The Boeing Company
Aerospace & Defense ManufacturingFounded 1916- Updated June 2026
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Last reviewed: June 2026
CorpDigest
The Boeing Company
Financial Performance
Last reviewed: June 2026 · By Swet Parvadiya
Revenue
$66.5B
Market Cap
$120.0B
Employees
152,000
Boeing reported $66.5 billion in revenue for 2024 and a net loss of $11.8 billion. Those numbers exist together because the company's cost structure — built for a production rate far above what it currently delivers — generates losses at every volume level below roughly 38-40 aircraft per month on the 737 MAX line alone. The KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tanker program is the clearest illustration of how defense fixed-price contracts can detonate a balance sheet. Boeing won the contract in 2011 by underbidding Airbus. By 2024, cumulative pre-tax charges on the program exceeded $7 billion — more than the entire original contract value. The program is not finished. Revenue by year tells the story in compressed form: $62.3 billion in 2021, $66.6 billion in 2022, $77.8 billion in 2023, then $66.5 billion in 2024 as the door-plug accident triggered production caps and a 53-day machinists strike halted the Renton assembly line entirely. The $77.8 billion 2023 figure represents something close to normalized delivery rates; the drop back to $66.5 billion represents what happens when a manufacturer cannot build at the pace its backlog demands. The October 2024 equity offering raised $24 billion, shoring up liquidity but diluting existing shareholders substantially. The market capitalization sat near $120 billion — less than two times 2024 revenue for a company with a commercial backlog worth more than four times that figure. The gap between the backlog and the market cap contains the entire question of Boeing's recovery: can it rebuild production credibility fast enough to convert those binding orders into cash before the balance sheet forces further dilution?
Revenue Trend Analysis
YoY Change
-14.5%
4-Year CAGR
+3.4%
Peak Year
2023
Trend
Consistent Growth
The Boeing Company has reported revenue across 5 fiscal years, compounding at +3.4% annually over 4 years. The most recent year saw a 14.5% decline versus the prior year. Revenue peaked in 2023 at $77.8B. Out of 4 reported periods, 3 showed growth and 1 showed a decline.
| Fiscal Year | Revenue | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| FY2024 | $66.5B | -14.5% |
| FY2023 | $77.8B | +16.8% |
| FY2022 | $66.6B | +6.9% |
| FY2021 | $62.3B | +7.1% |
| FY2020 | $58.2B | — |
Source: SEC EDGAR filings, annual earnings releases, and verified financial disclosures.
Click any row to see year details.
Boeing's $11.8 billion 2024 net loss represents the company's seventh consecutive annual loss since 2018, with cumulative losses exceeding $35 billion driven by 737 MAX crisis, COVID-era commercial aviation collapse, KC-46 tanker fixed-price contract losses, 787 production quality issues, and 2024 strike costs. The financial damage exceeds initial market estimates that valued the 737 MAX grounding at $20 billion total cost, demonstrating how operational failures compound through customer compensation, regulatory penalties, and production system disruptions that extend beyond the initial crisis. Boeing's commercial aviation business operates at deeply negative margins, requiring Defense and Services segment profitability ($3-4 billion annually) plus capital raises to maintain operations until production normalises and aircraft deliveries generate positive cash flow.
Boeing's $58 billion total debt — accumulated through COVID-era survival borrowing, 737 MAX customer compensation funding, and 2024 strike-induced capital raises — creates $3 billion in annual interest expense that the loss-making commercial aviation business cannot service from operating cash flow. The company executed $24 billion in October 2024 capital raises through stock sale and convertible bonds, providing 18-24 months of liquidity runway until commercial aircraft deliveries resume normal cadence. Management has prioritised maintaining investment-grade credit rating to preserve capital market access, though credit rating agencies S&P and Moody's have downgraded Boeing to BBB-, just one notch above junk status. Restoring investment-grade financial profile requires returning to positive free cash flow generation, currently projected for 2026 if 737 MAX production normalises.
Boeing management projects positive free cash flow returning in 2025-2026 as 737 MAX production stabilises at 38 aircraft monthly (then increasing), 787 deliveries resume at 5-7 per month, and Defense fixed-price contract losses moderate from peak rates. However, projections have repeatedly slipped since 2020 as new quality issues emerge (door plug, manufacturing defects, software certifications), and the strike's 53-day production halt pushed 2024 free cash flow projections from positive to -$14 billion. Sustainable cash flow recovery requires delivering 50+ 737 MAX monthly, completing 787 backlog clearance, and avoiding new quality incidents that trigger regulatory restrictions, with management's track record of missing financial targets making investors sceptical of any near-term financial commitments.
Boeing has paid approximately $30 billion cumulatively in 737 MAX-related compensation and legal costs through 2024, including $5 billion to airline customers for delivery delays and operational disruption, $2.5 billion DOJ deferred prosecution settlement (2021), $500 million crash victim families fund, and ongoing litigation costs from product liability cases. The compensation costs continue mounting as new operational disruptions emerge — 2024 Alaska Airlines door plug incident triggered approximately $1 billion in customer compensation, plus reputational damage affecting future orders. Management cannot reliably project total ultimate costs given continuing quality issues, and the cumulative legal liability has imposed financial discipline far exceeding the costs that would have been required for pre-crisis engineering rigour, validating the long-term cost of cutting safety investments.