Airbus Q1 Profit Surges 8% on Defense Boost, Tariff Impact Unclear

Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer, reported first-quarter revenue and core profit that exceeded expectations and reaffirmed its full-year targets. The company highlighted that the impact of quantitative tariffs is still too early to quantify.

The world's largest aircraft manufacturer stated that in the first quarter, its closely watched adjusted operating profit grew by 8% to 6.24 billion euros (7.07 billion USD), while revenue increased by 6% to 13.54 billion euros. This growth was driven by the defense business, which offset the impact of reduced aircraft deliveries.

Analysts had previously estimated an average adjusted or base operating profit of 6.02 billion euros and revenue of 12.95 billion euros. Additionally, Airbus's cash consumption was significantly lower than expected.

As a competitor to Boeing in Europe, Airbus still expects to deliver 820 aircraft in 2025, up from 766 in the previous year. However, the company warned that due to supply chain issues, deliveries will again be concentrated in the second half of this year.

Airbus finalized an agreement on Monday to acquire part of the struggling U.S. Spirit AeroSystems factories. The company stated that the difficulties faced by this U.S. aerospace components supplier continue to put pressure on the increased production of Airbus A320 and A350 aircraft.

Despite this, Airbus maintained its production forecast and adhered to its 2025 financial expectations, including 7 billion euros in adjusted operating profit. This is a metric commonly used by Airbus, excluding gains and losses related to restructuring, exchange rates, and certain other factors.

The 2025 forecast includes the impact of acquiring part of Spirit AeroSystems' business but does not account for the uncertainty arising from the escalating tariff war.

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury stated in a release, "We are closely monitoring and assessing the situation, but it is still too early to quantify the impact of tariffs."

Airbus stated that it is engaged in "constructive" negotiations with the purchasing countries of the A400M military transport aircraft and is also studying the impact of the current order situation on production plans.

The A400M transport aircraft project has been affected by delivery delays, partial order cancellations by the first European purchasing countries, and slow exports. It is expected that the order backlog will be depleted by 2028. However, industry insiders suggest that increased military spending in Europe may reignite interest from some buyers who previously reduced delivery quantities, such as France and Spain.

Airbus also announced new costs of 105 million euros related to the restructuring of the defense and aerospace sectors.