Courtesy of Airbus
On the same day, Riyadh Air ordered 60 Airbus A321neos despite speculation late last year that the new Saudi airline would opt for Boeing 737 Max jets for its single-aisle fleet.
2. Coping better with huge backlogs
Sales are one part of the puzzle, along with delivering planes on time.
“We believe the primary focus among investors is the execution of aircraft deliveries,” Royal Bank of Canada analyst Ken Herbert said in a note to clients.
Both planemakers have huge backlogs: Boeing has more than 5,400 orders, while the Airbus total is about 8,750.
Supply chain constraints on labor and raw materials have hampered the industry this year, but Airbus has been coping better. It has delivered 497 planes this year compared with Boeing’s 291.
“Airbus’ main task is ramping up production of its popular airliners beyond even prepandemic rates,” Morningstar’s Nicolas Owens said in a note.
Like last year, Airbus expects deliveries to increase in the final three months of the year, meaning it will meet its goal of 770 planes. The guidance confirmation was “arguably the biggest surprise of the release,” Deutsche Bank analyst Christophe Menard said in a note.
LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images; Marian Lockhart/Boeing
Investors and customers can also find confidence in more stability at Airbus, with CEO Faury announcing in the earnings call that shareholders will vote on renewing his contract.
Since Faury took over at Airbus in 2019, three people have run Boeing.
Dennis Muilenburg and Dave Calhoun were both ousted from Boeing following different 737 Max crises. Kelly Ortberg has only been in charge since August but has a plan to turn things around after a turbulent time with the strike, layoffs, and regulatory scrutiny.