Boeing’s calamities push stock to its widest gap with Airbus ever

As the troubles faced by Boeing Co. deepen and reverberate through the airline industry, the planemaker is falling even further behind its biggest competitor, Airbus SE.

After a 29% drop in its share price so far this year, Boeing’s market valuation is now lagging Airbus by the most ever. At $112 billion, the troubled US company is about $24 billion smaller than its European counterpart, as of market close on Tuesday.

The gap is telling of how the fortunes have turned against Boeing in recent years, in the wake of several issues with its aircraft, including two fatal crashes and a long, painful grounding of its jets. A string of accidents and mishaps this year has been prompting airlines to rethink their own expansion plans.

Boeing had been bigger than Airbus ever since the latter became a publicly traded company in July 2000. That changed in mid-2022, following a particularly disappointing outlook from the US jet-maker. 

Since then, the market value of the two companies have been close to each other — with Boeing largely staying ahead — before starting to plunge amid the constant barrage of recent negative news.

The latest commentary from airlines on Tuesday doesn’t bode well for Boeing. United Airlines Holdings Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby said he’d seek a deal with Airbus for their A321, and Delta Air Lines Inc. has already been taking that model.

“Airbus could be poised to take additional share from Boeing, especially if they add pressure to Boeing’s customers,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Kenneth Herbert. 

Boeing’s aircraft deliveries trailed that of Airbus last month. The former handed over 27 airplanes to customers in February, while Airbus delivered 49.