Boeing shares surged 5.07% during intraday trading on Tuesday, as investors cheered the aerospace giant's stronger-than-expected free cash flow and record order backlog, looking past a wider quarterly loss driven by cost overruns on the Air Force One program.

The company reported second-quarter revenue of $24.56 billion, up 8% year-over-year and exceeding Wall Street's consensus estimate of $24.25 billion. The standout metric was adjusted free cash flow of $631 million, which dramatically surpassed market expectations of a negative $331.4 million, marking a pivotal return to positive cash generation. Total backlog hit an all-time high of $715 billion, including over 6,200 commercial aircraft orders, while deliveries rose 14% to 171 planes. The 737 program also began transitioning production to a rate of 47 aircraft per month.

While core earnings per share came in at a loss of $0.76—wider than the estimated $0.30 loss—partly due to a $280 million charge on the VC-25B presidential aircraft program, CEO Kelly Ortberg struck an optimistic tone. "Our operations are more stable and key certification programs remain on plan. The momentum we are building continues to move Boeing in the right direction," Ortberg said. The company also maintained its full-year free cash flow guidance of $1 billion to $3 billion.