Boeing's Rebound Is Well Underway—But Is It Too Late?

Key Points

• Boeing's strong rebound in 2025 contrasts with its deep underperformance over a longer time period.
• The company's deliveries in 2025 are up 60% but still lag behind rival Airbus.
• Operational and safety improvements remain key to the stock's performance going forward and its ability to execute on its massive backlog.

Boeing NYSE: BA has been one of the most maligned titans of industry in the United States over the past several years. As of the July 8 close, the stock’s five-year total return was only 22%. The aerospace stock has massively underperformed the market, as the S&P 500 Index’s return was approximately 112% over this period.

Boeing stock started 2025 off in a bad way, with shares falling to depths of -23% through early April. However, the company managed to completely flip the script as the year progressed. As of the June 8 close, Boeing stock is now up 23% in 2025, far outpacing the approximately 6% return of the S&P 500.

This strong stock market performance accompanies the big improvement in the firm’s operational success, which it just made clear to the public. Now, the question is whether Boeing’s recent success is sustainable, or is it too late for the company to regain its former glory?

Let’s break down the latest news around the company to form an outlook on the stock.

Boeing: Narrowing the Gap With Airbus in 2025

On July 8, Boeing announced massive improvements in its plane deliveries compared to a year ago. The company said it delivered 60 commercial planes in June, marking a 27% increase in deliveries compared to the same period a year ago. Through the first half of 2025, the company’s commercial plane deliveries came in at 280. That is a 60% increase versus the first half of 2024. The company’s Defense, Space, and Security deliveries have improved significantly as well, coming in at 62. That is a nearly 48% increase from 42 in the first half of 2024. Crystalizing the improvement in the firm’s operations is the fact that its deliveries in June were the highest since December 2023.

Deliveries are a very important metric in assessing the competitiveness of Boeing versus its rival Airbus Group OTCMKTS: EADSY. Planes are costly and take a long time to build. Thus, customers must have confidence that Boeing will deliver in a timely fashion to win orders over Airbus. Airbus is still winning the battle in 2025, delivering 306 planes through the first half of the year and 63 in June. However, Boeing is gaining ground. While its deliveries have skyrocketed compared to 2024, Airbus’s deliveries fell by around 5.6%.

Safety Remains a Top Concern, Highlighted by Air India Crash

However, more important than timely delivery is the perception that Boeing’s planes are safe. This has been the bane of Boeing’s existence over the past several years and is the main thing it needs to change. The June 12 Air India crash of the company’s 787 Dreamliner is just the latest setback to the company’s efforts to promote its perception of safety. So far, no clear blame has fallen on Boeing. Authorities will likely release the details of the preliminary investigation soon. Regulators finding Boeing at fault would be a clear catalyst for shares to move down.

The crash came at a particularly bad time for Boeing. The firm retreated into the shadows during the Paris Air Show, while Airbus raked in $21 billion in orders. The company has made efforts to improve the safety of its planes. It hired a new Chief Executive Officer back in August 2024 to help shift the company’s culture. It is also working to complete the purchase of key supplier Spirit AeroSystems NYSE: SPR to improve its quality control. Notably, airline executives have expressed confidence in the safety and quality improvements Boeing is making. Still, it will take years to assess whether Boeing’s safety issues are truly behind them.

Boeing’s Backlog Provides Reason for Optimism

One saving grace for Boeing is its massive backlog, which stood at 5,953 planes at the end of June. At its current delivery pace, it would take the firm more than a decade to fulfill all these orders. Despite its issues, the demand for the company’s products remains strong, giving Boeing a big opportunity to succeed going forward if it can show that its house is in order.

This means that the recovery Boeing is currently seeing is not too little, too late. However, the company still has a huge amount to prove. If Boeing’s execution continues to improve, the stock has the ability to appreciate strongly over the coming years. For perspective, the stock would need to gain approximately 51% to reclaim the all-time high it achieved in March 2019.