Al Root

Boeing stock turned positive on Thursday, partly on hopes that China was back in the market for planes.

Shares were down with the market early, but traded into the green, up 1.3% at $238.86, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were both down about 0.8%

The gain came after a Wednesday post on Truth Social by President Trump, in which he reviewed his call with Chinese President Xi. "It was a long call and thorough call, where many important subjects were discussed," including aerospace.

The post "could be a signal for China's first Boeing 737 orders since 2017," wrote Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu on Thursday. "It was reported in August 2025 that Chinese airlines were considering a deal for up to 500 aircraft."

China accounted for more than 20% of Boeing deliveries from 2010 to 2019, but it is only about 2% of the current backlog of undelivered aircraft. Boeing has a lot of "undefined" customers in its backlog. Some of those are likely for China.

Still, China has been quiet in the commercial aircraft market since Covid. It will have to buy more jets eventually. Boeing estimates the country will need some 8,800 planes over the next 20 years to meet rising demand for air travel.

More orders are great, but investors remained focused on production. Boeing delivered an average of about 400 planes per year between 2019 and 2025, down from about 740 planes per year between 2013 and 2018. The reasons are easy to identify: Covid along with 737 MAX design and production issues.

Looking ahead, Boeing is expected to deliver about 775 planes per year for the next four years. Hitting higher numbers will mean a recovering in earnings and free cash flow that investors have been waiting a long time for.

Boeing reported a profit in 2025, helped by an asset sale. The prior full-year profit was reproted in 20218.

Today, Boeing stock is supported by the belief that the company will soon generate $10 billion in annual free cash flow. Wall Street sees that number by 2028.

The existing backlog supports that goal. New orders will mean cash flow growth in 2030 and beyond.

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

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 05, 2026 15:41 ET (20:41 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.