Did Boeing Miss the Boat on 2014 Airplane Deliveries?

As we noted on Sunday, Boeing had forecast 110 deliveries for the 787, but a self-styled AvGeek had reported on his blog that Boeing had rolled 18 787s out of the plant.

Boeing also reported that it took orders for 20 777s in the month of December, as well as an additional 138 737s, and 16 Dreamliners, for a total of 174 new orders in the month. For the full year, Boeing has taken net new orders for 1,432 commercial planes. The carrying value of the new orders is $232.7 billion at list prices, and the company’s backlog now stands at a record 5,789.

The company took orders in 2014 for 63 of its current version of the 777 and 220 orders for the next version, the 777X. Boeing is building the 777s at the rate of about eight a month and needs to book orders for the plane to carry the manufacturing line through the 2020, the current production date for the 777X. Boeing delivered 99 of the planes last year.

Rival Airbus reports 2014 deliveries next week, but the company has no chance of surpassing Boeing’s total deliveries for the year. The European aircraft maker delivered 626 planes in 2013 and has forecast 2014 deliveries at approximately the same level. Airbus took more orders than Boeing in 2013 and had booked a total of 1,031 net new orders through the end of November.

Boeing’s stock traded down about 1% after the announcement, at $127.69 in a 52-week range of $116.32 to $144.57.

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