Boeing warns investors it'll be short on 737 Max deliveries, renewing doubt about its turnaround

A Boeing 737 Max 10 fuselage at the company's plant in Everett, Wash. The single-aisle aircraft is Boeing's workhorse.

Shares of Boeing went into a tailspin Tuesday after the aerospace and defense giant told Wall Street it will come up short of delivery targets for crucial commercial jets, reviving worries about its turnaround.

Boeing (BA) executives said that they need more time to stabilize delivery rates of the jet maker's 737 Max planes at 47 a month, which means the company will come in shy of its delivery target of 500 of the jets for the year. The single-aisle aircraft is Boeing's workhorse and it has been a top-selling commercial plane for decades. The company did not provide a new delivery outlook.

The executives went on to say they still expect to deliver between 90 and 100 of the company's 787 Dreamliner planes, but deliveries will likely be closer to the lower end of that range. The twin-aisle plane is Boeing's flagship and a coveted long-haul jet for global airlines.

The comments dragged Boeing's stock to its lowest point in 18 months in a dramatic mid-morning drop that largely sustained into the afternoon. Down 9%, the stock was the worst performer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA on Tuesday and the second-worst within the S&P 500 SPX.

Boeing has struggled to leave behind concerns about its manufacturing after several incidents that led to increased regulatory scrutiny and management shake-ups, as well as a loss of confidence among clients, investors and the flying public.

Boeing embarked on a turnaround plan under CEO Kelly Ortberg, an industry veteran who took the reins in 2024. Its production rates are closely watched not only as a path toward profitability but also as a gauge of whether some of its problems will stay in the past.

Demand is not an issue - global airlines wait years for new jets from Boeing as well as from Europe's Airbus (FR:AIR), with demand far outpacing what the duopoly can produce. Boeing is a U.S. industrial champion also critical for the U.S. aerospace and defense industry.

Boeing earlier Tuesday reported a third-quarter adjusted loss of 34 cents a share, wider than expectations of a loss of 25 cents a share for the quarter, according to FactSet.

Quarterly revenue surprised positively, coming in at $24.2 billion versus a forecast for $23.9 billion. But that was thanks mostly to slightly higher-than-expected sales from its defense business, with sales from its core commercial division falling short of expectations.

-Claudia Assis