Boeing CEO Says 'Mountain Of Work' Remains On Certifying 777X Planes - Retail Sees Buying Opportunity After Stock Slide

Boeing (BA) CEO Kelly Ortberg said that the company is still running behind schedule in the certification process of the newest model of its long-haul 777 family.

The stock slipped 3.3% on Thursday, the seventh successive day of decline. Retail chatter also jumped over 200% as Ortberg flagged delays in the rollout of the 777x model, which has already cost Boeing billions of dollars.

Ortberg said that 'a mountain of work' is still there before the certification, but the aircraft has not faced any new technical challenges.“Even a minor schedule delay on the 777 program has a pretty big financial impact because we're in a reach-forward loss situation,” he said at the Morgan Stanley Laguna conference.

The aircraft was initially slated to enter service in 2020, but Boeing does not expect to deliver it to customers before next year.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Boeing was in the 'bullish' territory at the time of writing.

However, Ortberg assured that the company still plans to raise its 737 MAX production to 42 per month by the end of the year from the 38 it is allowed to produce by the Federal Aviation Administration.“I don't see the supply chain challenges for us,” Ortberg said, which might prevent it from boosting output.

The 737 MAX is the company's best-selling jet, and Boeing needs to ramp up output soon to turn profitable. Ortberg said Boeing still intends to certify the 737-7 and 737-10 models by next year, and it is frustrating that it took the company so long to complete the process.

Ortberg, who took charge last year, added that it has boosted its 787 production rate from five per month to seven, and intends to raise it to eight per month in the near future.

“I suspect that it will jump, however, because all this today was uncalled for,” one Stocktwits user said on Boeing's stream.

“Soon some will kick themselves for not buying at $221, total steal,” another user wrote.

Boeing stock has gained 23.4% this year. Earlier this week, the company reached a tentative agreement with members of the IAM union to end a five-week-long strike at its defense manufacturing facilities in the St. Louis area. The workers are expected to vote on the contract on Friday.

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