As 2014 comes to a close, a question arises about which of the 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) stocks will be the one to lead the pack in the coming year. After Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) failed to keep pace with its performance from 2013 with gains of about 84%, 24/7 Wall St. wanted to see what scenarios could help it be among the best-performing DJIA stocks of 2015.

The first consideration is that Boeing shares were down almost 1% year-to-date as of the close of Friday, December 5 — and at one point it was down about 13% in 2014. When 2014 started out, analysts were expecting Boeing shares to rise about 10% in all of 2014. It is too soon to start determining which DJIA stock will be the best-performing in 2015, but Boeing was the best performing DJIA stock of 2013 and was most recently ranked as only number five of all 30 DJIA stocks with its -1% performance to date.

Without trying to predict this as a real expectation with almost a month to go before 2015 starts, 24/7 Wall St. wanted to look at what might actually make Boeing be the top-performing DJIA stock of 2015. First and foremost, Boeing needs to make sure that its production is in line with its sales, and that starts with the full-year guidance for deliveries. For 2014, the company predicted deliveries of between 715 to 725 aircraft. In order for Boeing to make these deliveries, it has to make the sales. In 2014, the story for this airline producer began with cracked wings in the 787 Dreamliner at the beginning of the year.

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Another issue that was more psychological than formal was the mystery surrounding the Malaysian Air jet, a Boeing 777, that went missing. No remains from the crash were found and there are still only questions. Some reports discussed potential terrorism, some discussions were around pilot sabotage, some speculated over a rapid mid-air disintegration and other theories abound. The reality is that nobody knows for sure, and they may now never get any real answers.

The 787 Dreamliner faced many initial delays and many issues before its launch. Now the issues seem to be around whether airlines will buy this plane or other large aircraft instead. The lower oil prices will only add in one more unknown about whether airline carries will spend up for fuel-efficiency when oil (and jet fuel) prices have tanked.

As a result of this series of unfortunate events, Boeing’s sales dipped, and reasonably so, with its clients often opting for competitor Airbus. However, for the coming year Boeing has planned ahead and already contracted Alcoa to be an exclusive provider of light-weight aluminum lithium wing skins. Assuming the quality holds, there are no foreseeable problems on the manufacturing or mechanical side for this airplane manufacturing giant.

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With the mechanical integrity of its products intact, Boeing theoretically only has to worry about making its sales. Boeing has projected that the various Asia Pacific airlines will require 12,280 new planes over the next 20 years, 36% of all global deliveries. The company estimates that the Asia Pacific fleet will nearly triple, from 5,090 airplanes in 2012 to 14,750 airplanes in 2032, to support increased demand. Total demand there alone could be $1.9 trillion. Imagine if Boeing manages to hold on to the bulk of its remaining orders in 2015 while securing new ones in the region.

Boeing sees demand rising primarily for single-aisle planes like its 737 and 737 MAX families and the Airbus A320. Single-aisle planes will account for 69% of sales Boeing predicts. In its September forecast, Airbus also predicted that 69% of new planes delivered in the region would be single-aisle planes.

The privatization, or partial privatization, of space has taken many twists since the end of the Space Shuttle era. Companies and organizations know that there are literally billions of dollars up for grabs in the contracts that can be won, and we now have a winner on the next space taxi that will take American astronauts to the International Space Station. Boeing and SpaceX won out, getting the initial nod that they will be the companies to carry U.S. astronauts to space. As far as who gets what, Boeing received a $4.2 billion contract and SpaceX received a $2.6 billion contract. What if this can be parlayed into more private deals ahead?

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24/7 Wall St. is also looking for a big dividend hike from Boeing before year-end. The Sterne Agee analyst team said it would not be surprised if Boeing raised its dividend by 15% or more from its current rate of $0.73 per quarter. We predicted a rise in the range of $0.80 to $0.85 per share. Boeing currently has a dividend yield of 2.2%, so what if Boeing follows Disney with a much larger payout hike than expected? The company’s stock is currently valued at roughly 15 times its 2015 earnings, which puts it at an average value, and affordable for investors. Its most recent backlog was listed as being over 5,500 commercial planes with a record $490 billion.

24/7 Wall St. is not trying to predict that Boeing stock will have a stellar year in 2015. With nearly a month to go until the new year kicks off, it may feel foolhardy to make any predictions on the coming full year. That being said, many investors are reviewing the worst-performing DJIA stocks of 2014 to see if 2015 can get off to a better start. One of the 30 DJIA stocks has to take to the lead and be the best-performing next year, so we wanted to see what it might take for Boeing to lead the pack. We have already given a similar evaluation for the following Dow stocks in 2015:

• IBM
• Exxon Mobil and Chevron
• McDonald’s

Entering December, Boeing shares have been holding around the $130 mark and they closed at $132.21 on Friday, December 5. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $116.32 to $144.57, and its consensus analyst price target is currently about $149. This implies that analysts see upside of almost 13%, plus the 2.2% (and growing) dividend. Again, the same analysts were calling for about 10% upside in 2014 and were too aggressive then. Those same analysts following Boeing now see even more upside.

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