Boeing on Tuesday reported a smaller quarterly loss compared with the same period last year — when plane certification delay costs heavily dented results — as it ramps up output carefully.
The aviation giant reported a third-quarter loss of $116mn, compared with a loss of $5.3bn in the year-ago period mostly from delays to certification of the 777X, the latest generation in Boeing's long-range, wide-body commercial jet family.
The results translated into a larger earnings per share loss than analysts expected, but the company pointed to recent commercial aircraft certifications and Pentagon awards as signs of progress in its turnaround.
Chief Executive Kelly Ortberg cited the Federal Aviation Administration's certification of the 737 MAX 7 and 737 MAX 10 as well as a "transformational" Pentagon award for the US Navy's next-generation fighter jets as evidence of momentum.
"Expectations are rising, and they should. We have a stronger foundation than a year ago, but we also have more work to do to deliver on our backlog, strengthen our culture, and improve how we work every day," Ortberg said in a message to employees.
Revenues rose 4% to $24.2bn behind increased deliveries in defense, space and security business and higher sales in Boeing global services.
Boeing's revenues for commercial aircraft dipped from the year-ago period. The company said it was on track to achieve "stabilized production of 47 per month" for the 737 MAX.
"I know everybody wants us to go faster, but we're going to do it right," Ortberg said Tuesday of efforts to stabilize output at a faster level.
Ortberg joined Boeing as CEO in August 2024 as the company struggled to move past a pair of deadly 737 MAX crashes and a near-catastrophic 737 MAX flight in January 2024 in which a window blew out mid-flight. The company at the time faced criticism that the problems stemmed from a culture that chased quick payoffs while short-changing safety.
Increased jet deliveries translate into higher earnings. Under Ortberg, US officials have cleared Boeing to lift output from 38 to 42 a month and then from 42 to 47. Boeing has discussed raising MAX output to 63 a month or higher.
"We're delivering high-quality, safe aircraft, and so I expect that stabilization period will last the balance of this year into early next year," Ortberg said on CNBC.
Boeing last week won US certification of the 737 MAX 10, the largest plane in the MAX family. That came on the heels of the August certification of the 737 MAX 7, the smallest jet in the family.
Both approvals have arrived years after the original timetable, but set the stage for increased plane deliveries in the coming years.
Of the still-outstanding 777X, Boeing said the program "continued to progress on 777-9 certification flight testing and remains on track for first delivery in 2027." The 777-9 is a variant of the new aircraft.
The company reported $464mn in free cash flow in the quarter. Wall Street analysts have been tracking the company's progress on attaining positive cash flow after a lengthy period in which it has not only reported frequent quarterly losses, but has also often had negative cash flow.
Boeing executives have said they are confident they will attain $10bn annual free cash flow but haven't set a specific target date.
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday became the third big German carmaker to cut its outlook for the year on tough conditions in China, underlining the scale of the crisis facing the industry.
Citing difficulties in China — the world's largest car market — as well as higher material costs, core profit for 2026 is now expected to be on a par with the prior year's €5.8bn ($6.5bn), the company said.
It had previously foreseen an increase of at least 15%.
Profit margins at the core car business are now indicated at between two and 3% for the year, Mercedes-Benz said, down from the three to 5% previously.
BMW and Volkswagen have both already cut their guidance for the year as sluggish demand combined with cut-throat competition from Chinese local rivals such as BYD and Xiaomi have eaten into profits.
Mercedes-Benz's vehicle deliveries in China — last year already at their lowest level since 2016 — fell a further 29% in the nine months to end-September.
Being partially muscled out of China has led to painful adjustments for Germany's car industry, one of the country's largest employers.
Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius has urged German workers to work extra hours without pay at the same time as expanding the company's manufacturing footprint in Hungary, where he says costs are about 70% lower than in Germany.
Volkswagen plans to have cut 120,000 jobs globally by the end of the decade in what is the largest restructuring in automotive history, eclipsing the 50,000 jobs lost after the bankruptcy of General Motors in 2009.
Core profit for the third quarter came in at €1.77bn, Mercedes-Benz said in preliminary results, and the profit margin at the cars business was 2.5%.
HSBC
HSBC profits jumped in the third quarter thanks to higher interest rates and lower costs, the bank giant said Tuesday, but its share price slid as the results undershot investor expectations.
Net profit grew 45.5% to $7.1bn in the three months to end-September compared with the same quarter a year earlier, the London-headquartered lender said in an earnings statement.
HSBC is cutting jobs amid global restructuring at the Asia-focused bank under chief executive Georges Elhedery, who took over the helm two years ago.
"As we simplify HSBC, we are creating greater capacity to invest, grow and deliver strong returns for our shareholders," Elhedery said Tuesday.
Pre-tax profit in the third quarter climbed 32% to $9.6bn, with group revenue increasing by nearly 5% to $18.6bn.
However, Tuesday's results left investors disappointed.
Shares in London shed more than 7% to head losses on the top-tier FTSE 100 index, mirroring a fall in Hong Kong.
"Investors already know that higher interest rates are benefiting the banks so HSBC's big increase in third-quarter profits was not enough to win them over," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
"HSBC is under pressure to bring costs down and while there is clear evidence of progress... the market is likely to keep management's feet to the fire," he added.
Banks in the UK are meanwhile bracing for a widely-expected windfall tax in Britain's budget update on Wednesday, with reports suggesting that the extra funds could be used to help households cope with surging energy bills.
Restructuring and cost-saving actions by HSBC, which include selling off a series of business units this year, have saved the bank $1.4bn since 2025, it said Tuesday.
This enabled the bank to issue a dividend of 10 US cents per share alongside plans for a fresh $1.0-billion stocks buyback.
HSBC is meanwhile increasingly adopting artificial intelligence across its operations.
The lender told AFP this month that it was "in a consultation period" after the Financial Times reported that hundreds of jobs were at risk in its wealth management business from the bank's adoption of AI.
"We know that AI will change how work is done across industries, and of course it will impact some roles, it will transform other roles," chief financial officer Pam Kaur said on a media call Tuesday.
"Beyond that, there's nothing specific in a number term that I want to share, or indeed have to share at the moment," she added.
