Investing.com -- Airbus posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter results on Tuesday, boosted by higher revenues and an improving production outlook despite ongoing supply chain challenges.

The European aerospace giant reported €13.5 billion in revenue for the quarter ended March 31, up 6% year-over-year and ahead of the company compiled consensus expectation of €12.95 billion. 

Adjusted EBIT came in at €624 million, also above forecasts of €602 million, while reported earnings per share rose to €1.01, compared to expectations of €0.67.

“Our Q1 results demonstrate the progress we are making on our priorities across the business,” said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury. “We are ramping up production in line with our plan but the delivery profile will be backloaded, reflecting the specific supply chain challenges we are facing this year.”

Airbus delivered 136 commercial aircraft in the quarter, slightly below the 142 delivered a year ago. 

However, a favorable foreign exchange environment helped lift commercial aircraft revenue by 4% to €9.5 billion. 

The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance for 820 aircraft deliveries and €7 billion in adjusted EBIT.

Free cash flow before customer financing improved sharply to negative €310 million from negative €1.65 billion in the year-ago quarter, reflecting planned inventory build-up to support production ramp-up.

Faury added that the company is monitoring tariff impacts and continues to support European defense initiatives, noting, “It is too early to quantify the impact today.”

Related articles

Airbus tops Q1 expectations as production set to ramp up

Pichai pushes back on antitrust remedies, hints at Apple Gemini talks

Seaport starts coverage of chip stocks, says sell Nvidia, buy Broadcom, AMD