Things are going better at Boeing. Just don't look at the stock.
The commercial jet maker delivered 57 jets in September and 161 in the third quarter, up from 55 jets in September 2025 and 160 jets in the third quarter last year.
Through September, Boeing has delivered 475 jets in 2026, up from 440 delivered over the same span of 2025. The company is on pace to hit the 600 deliveries Wall Street projects for this year, which would be the best result since 2018.
What's more, Boeing recently won the competition to make the Navy's sixth-generation fighter jet, besting Northrop Grumman after beating Lockheed Martin to build the Air Force's sixth-generation fighter jet.
Still, shares are in the tank. Boeing stock was down 1.6% in midday trading at $186.44, leaving shares down almost 30% from a 52-week high of more than $254.
What gives?
For starters, there is oil. Benchmark crude oil prices are north of $100 per barrel. They were below $70 shortly before the Iran War began. Higher oil prices threaten airline profits, and airlines are the ones that buy the planes.
The defense industry is also in disarray. Since fighting broke out in the Middle East, defense stock valuation multiples have collapsed. Earlier in 2026, Lockheed shares traded for 22 times expected earnings over the coming 12 months, a small premium to the S&P 500 multiple. Now, shares trade for less than 16 times earnings.
Investors are worried about a spending slowdown if Democrats retake the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. They are also worried about budget deficits and what that could mean for future profit margins. Those fears have overwhelmed the tailwind that is record defense spending.
Then there is the 737 MAX. A recent software glitch was discovered. It isn't a safety issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, but investors are highly attuned to MAX issues after two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019 and production-quality problems in 2024.
Investors are also waiting for two important catalysts. They want the new 777X twin-aisle jet and the longest version of the MAX, the 737 MAX 10, approved for commercial service.
Regulators are expected to approve both in late 2026 or early 2027. Approval could give shares a boost, as long as some of the other headwinds abate.
Barron's wrote positively about Boeing stock in late October 2025 with shares at about $200. Things went well early for the pick, but we, like other investors, have been caught in the recent quagmire.
Wall Street hasn't lost faith. Overall, 85% of analysts covering Boeing rates its shares Buy, according to FactSet. The average Buy-rating ratio for S&P 500 stocks typically ranges from 55% to 60%. The average analyst price target for Boeing shares is about $271, up from $255 a year ago.