Boeing Stock Rises 13.2% in 3 Months: Is There More Room for Growth?

The Boeing Company’s BA shares have rallied 13.2% in three months compared with the Zacks Aerospace-Defense industry’s growth of 12.3%. The company is seeing growth across its commercial, defense and services businesses, driven by robust aircraft demand, significant contract awards and a solid backlog that underpins sustained revenue growth.

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Other defense stocks, such as RTX Corporation RTX and General Dynamics GD, have also gained during the same period. Shares of RTX and General Dynamics have risen 19.2% and 5.8%, respectively, during the same time frame. RTX continues to receive ample orders for its wide range of combat-proven defense products from the Pentagon and its foreign allies. General Dynamics benefits from a solid number of award wins and a strong global presence.

Considering Boeing’s outperformance compared with its industry, investors might be left wondering if this is a good time to add the stock to their portfolio. Let's examine the factors that contributed to the share price gain and assess the stock's investment prospects to make an informed decision.

Factors in Favor of BA

Boeing remains one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the United States in terms of revenues, orders and deliveries, particularly in the commercial aerospace industry. Thanks to the steadily growing demand trend in commercial aerospace, the company, being a prominent jet manufacturer, has been witnessing solid delivery and order activities lately.

The company’s Boeing Commercial Airplanes segment registered 181% year-over-year growth in its delivery count for the fourth quarter of 2025, which resulted in a 139% surge in this unit’s revenues.
The outlook for the aerospace giant’s defense and space business also remains optimistic. In particular, the current U.S. government’s inclination toward strengthening the nation’s defense and space systems should act as a growth catalyst for
Boeing.

During the fourth quarter of 2025, the Boeing Defense, Space & Security unit booked $15 billion in orders, including contracts for 15 KC-46A tankers from the U.S. Air Force and 96 Apaches from Poland, which resulted in a solid backlog amount of $85 billion for this segment as of Dec. 31, 2025. Such solid contract wins and subsequent backlog count should continue to bolster the BDS unit’s revenues, which registered solid year-over-year growth of 37% in the fourth quarter.

In February 2026, Boeing and Sun PhuQuoc Airways announced that the new Vietnam-based carrier had ordered up to 40 787 Dreamliner jets to serve as the backbone of its widebody fleet. The deal strengthens Boeing’s presence in Southeast Asia, one of the fastest-growing aviation markets, while potentially opening the door for additional aircraft orders as the airline expands its fleet.

Challenges Faced by BA

While Boeing presents strong growth potential, it also faces several key challenges that investors should weigh carefully. Although global air travel demand continues to recover and expand, the aviation industry remains constrained by persistent supply-chain disruptions, including shortages of engines, castings and other critical components.

These bottlenecks have delayed aircraft deliveries and increased production costs, limiting manufacturers’ ability to fully capitalize on rising demand. During 2025, aircraft order cancellations totaled $11.09 billion, mainly for 777X, 737, and 787 models, which impacted the revenue potential of the Boeing Commercial Airplanes segment.

BA Stock’s Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share (EPS) has decreased 40% in the past 60 days.

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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RTX’s 2026 EPS has increased 1.49% over the past 60 days. RTX’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth rate is 10.16%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for General Dynamics’ 2026 EPS has decreased 3.1% in the past 60 days. GD’s long-term earnings growth rate is 10.3%.

BA’s Earnings Surprise History

The company beat on earnings in two of the trailing four quarters and missed in the other two, delivering an average negative surprise of 80.4%.

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BA Stock’s Liquidity

The company’s current ratio of 1.19 is better than the industry’s average of 1.15. A current ratio greater than one indicates that the company has enough short-term assets to cover all short-term liabilities, if necessary.

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BA Stock Trades at a Discount

In terms of valuation, Boeing’s forward 12-month price-to-sales (P/S) is 1.83X, a discount to the industry’s average of 2.77X. This suggests that investors will be paying a lower price than the company's expected sales growth compared with that of its peer group.

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What Should an Investor do Now?

The company has been experiencing solid order and delivery momentum, which has boosted the performance of its commercial airplanes segment. Boeing’s defense and space business also maintains a positive outlook, supported by the U.S. government’s focus on strengthening national defense and space capabilities, which continues to drive new contract awards and a robust backlog.

However, considering its negative earnings growth projection, new investors should wait and look for a better entry point. Those who already have this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock in their portfolio may continue to retain it, given the company’s strong liquidity position. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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