reported a more than 50% slide in third-quarter profit, worse than analysts expected, as the company struggles to recover from two fatal crashes of its top-selling 737 Max aircraft.
While some investors may have been expecting Boeing to cut production of the 737 Max further, the company maintained its production rate of 42 airplanes per month. Boeing also said it expects to "gradually increase" the 737 Max production rate to 57 per month by the end of next year. Boeing did not provide an update to its full year forecast, which it suspended earlier this year. Revenue dropped 21% from the same period last year, while Boeing's third-quarter operating cash flow was negative $2.4 billion.Boeing's commercial airplane unit brought in $8.3 billion in revenue for the third quarter. But the division's operating profit continued to fall, tallying a $40 million loss for the quarter — down from a $2 billion profit a year earlier.
Boeing's defense and space business saw quarterly revenue climb 2% year-over-year, logging $7 billion in the third-quarter compared to $6.9 billion for the same period last year. The unit's operating margin, a key measure of profit, rose to 10.7%, with no new charges during the quarter and improved performance, Boeing said. The business has a combined backlog of $62 billion, with 70% of those orders from U.S. customers.