The Dubai Airshow did not officially open until Monday morning, but Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and rival Airbus S.E. (EADSY) have been banging the order drum since last week. Reuters reported Saturday that Airbus had been talking to Turkish Airlines about an order for up to 355 new airplanes. So far, that’s all talk.
Boeing, however, has delivered the goods, or more specifically, the orders for the goods, and Boeing stock is showing the effects.
New orders
First out of the gate was a commitment from SunExpress, a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, for 45 737 MAX, along with an “opportunity” for another 45. SunExpress has received nine 737-8s out of an earlier order for 42. The new order includes 28 more 737-8s and 17 of the larger 737-10s. As of August 2022, a 737-8 costs $121.6 million, and one 737-10 carries a sticker price of $134.9 million. No buyer pays retail, but more about that later.Emirates, a Dubai-based carrier, placed an order for 55 of Boeing’s 777-9 and 35 of the 777-8 widebody aircraft. Each 777-9 comes with a price tag of $442.2 million, while the 777-8 costs $410.2 million. The airline is also upping its order for Boeing’s 787 by five but did not specify which model. A 787-8, the smallest of the family, sells for $248.3 million, and the 787-10, the largest model, sells for $338.4 million.
Another Dubai-based carrier, flydubai, has agreed to purchase 30 787-9s ($292.5 million each), and Royal Jordanian ordered four more 787-9s to add to its backlog of 6 of the planes.
About those prices
The least expensive airplane on Boeing’s roster is the 737-700, a pre-MAX version of the company’s single-aisle stalwart. It carries a list price of $89.1 million. The 777-9 is the most expensive, followed by the 747-8F, a freighter version of the iconic 747, at $419.2 million.For the 169 airplane orders announced Monday morning, Emirates said its order was worth $52 billion at list prices. But no one pays lists, especially on an order the size of this one.
Discounts typically run at around 50% and are likely to be even larger on a massive order like the one Emirates placed.
In January 2017, Boeing’s 737-700 cost $80.6 million, about 10.5% below the current list price. The 777-9 also costs about 10.5% more than it did in 2017.
And there’s more good news for Boeing
On Saturday, Bloomberg reported that Boeing may get an order from China for 737 MAX airplanes following this week’s meeting of President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco.Boeing has not made a significant sale in China since two 737-8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. The grounding of the plane cost Boeing its leading position in China. It currently trails Airbus in the single-aisle category, where the Airbus 320 family has about 150 more airplanes in service than Boeing. That gap will widen to nearly 300 at the end of 2025.
Boeing stock traded up 3.9% at $204.37 shortly after Monday’s opening bell. The stock’s 52-week range is $168.52 to $243.10.
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