Key Takeaways
- Boeing stock is down 28% in six months. It fell nearly 11% on Tuesday after third-quarter results pushed its $10 billion free cash flow target out to 2029.
- On Oct. 28, Citi kept its Buy rating and $260 target, 56% above the current price, while many other firms cut their targets.
- Analysts now expect Boeing to earn $3.48 a share in 2027, down from $6.46 a year ago.
- Buying for Citi’s $260 means paying today for cash Boeing doesn’t expect until 2029, and January’s 2027 delivery plan is the next test.
Boeing (BA) stock is down 28% in six months, including a drop of nearly 11% on Tuesday after its third-quarter report. On Wednesday, Citi analyst John Godyn kept his Buy rating and $260 target, 56% above the current price.
The $10 billion just moved to 2029
CEO Kelly Ortberg warned in September that getting 737 production steady at 47 a month was taking longer than expected. On the third-quarter call he said “it will take us into next year to get fully stable at this rate.”
In Tuesday’s report, Commercial Airplanes lost $697 million in the third quarter.
The bigger hit was Boeing’s new cash plan: about $2 billion of free cash flow this year, $3 billion in 2027, $6 billion in 2028 and $10 billion in 2029. Before the report, analysts had penciled in $5.5 billion for 2027 and $9.8 billion for 2028.
Citi isn’t budging
Citi has had its $260 target since May. This week at least 11 other firms cut their targets. That leaves Citi’s 4% above the $249 consensus.
The bull case is in the release: a record $745 billion backlog and FAA certification of the 737-7 and 737-10. Ortberg said “the range of outcomes is narrowing.”
TIKR tracks 28 analysts on Boeing. How many say “Buy”?
See the full breakdown of Buy, Hold, and Sell ratings on Boeing, along with Wall Street’s revenue and earnings estimates, all in one place. More than 500,000 investors use TIKR to research stocks like this one. See Boeing’s Analyst Ratings
Does $260 add up?
Wall Street’s average target has barely moved in a year, even as the stock fell [25%]:
This week’s cuts pulled it to $249 on Wednesday, from $265 the day before.
The earnings behind those targets have moved a lot more. Analysts expect a loss this year, then $3.48 a share in 2027 and $6.92 in 2028:
That 2027 estimate was $6.46 at the end of September 2025, and it’s still falling.
With a loss expected this year, Boeing’s 112x forward P/E tells you little, and so does the 173x that Citi’s target implies. From 2014 to 2019, Boeing’s forward P/E averaged 18.8x. Getting to $260 at anything close to that takes earnings analysts don’t expect until around 2030.
Debt is the other weight: Boeing had $45.9 billion at Sept. 30 against $20.7 billion of cash and investments. Its preferred stock also converts into as many as 40.22 million new shares on Oct. 15, 2027.
My take: Boeing’s business is mending. But buying for Citi’s $260 means paying today for cash Boeing doesn’t expect until 2029, while 2027 estimates are still coming down.
Boeing gives its 2027 deliveries by program in January. That could change my mind.
So what is Boeing stock actually worth?
TIKR lets you forecast the future price of any stock in less than a minute. Just enter a few assumptions into TIKR’s valuation model and see what Boeing could be worth. Start from Wall Street consensus estimates, or adjust the inputs to reflect your own view of the business. It’s free to use.
Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
