By Al Root

Boeing stock rose after CEO Kelly Ortberg gave investors some good news about an important 737 MAX milestone.

The company passed its capstone review with the Federal Aviation Administration, allowing it to increase its 737 MAX production to 47 jets a month, Ortberg said at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions investor conference Wednesday.

"We are now in the process of running the line at the 47 a month rate," Ortberg said.

Most recently, Boeing had been making 42 MAX jets a month, after getting FAA approval to raise production in late 2025. That was an increase from a previous FAA cap of 38 a month, imposed after an emergency door plug blew out of a 737 MAX 9 jet in flight in January 2024. The defect was traced back to supplier production quality and to Boeing's inability to catch it.

Raising the production cap is a sign that Boeing's production quality and process control are improving. That's key for investors. Boeing needs to make more planes to generate earnings and free cash flow.

Boeing delivered 600 jets in 2025, up from 348 in 2024. Boeing delivered more than 800 in 2018, the year before the second deadly 737 MAX crash.

Boeing is expected to surpass its 2018 peak by 2028, with about 860 deliveries. That year, Wall Street projects earnings per share of about $8 and free cash flow of $10 billion. Those numbers support today's valuation. Boeing has a market value of about $173 billion.

Shares were up 1.4% in recent trading, while the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4%.

Boeing stock has risen about 11% over the past 12 months. Shares are still down roughly 50% from a record high of nearly $440 per share reached in March 2019.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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May 27, 2026 13:16 ET (17:16 GMT)

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