Boeing Hammers EPS Estimate (BA)

Aircraft maker Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) absolutely crushed the consensus estimate for quarterly EPS this morning, reporting EPS of $1.84 versus estimates of $1.01. Revenue for the quarter totaled $19.6 billion compared with a consensus estimate of $19.37 billion.

For the full year, Boeing posted EPS of $5.34 on revenue of $68.7 billion. Analysts had been expecting EPS of $4.49 on revenue of $68.58 billion.

Here’s Boeing’s outlook for 2012:

• EPS guidance of between $4.05 and $4.25 reflects strong operating performance offset by $0.83 of higher pension expense
• Revenue guidance established at between $78 and $80 billion
• Operating cash flow guidance set at greater than $5.0 billion includes $1.5 billion of discretionary pension contributions

Operating margins improved in 2011, especially in the military and space division. Margins in the commercial division rose from 9.4% in 2010 to 9.7%. In the military group, margins rose from 9.0% in 2010 to 9.9% in 2011.