Carson Expresses Confidence Ahead Of Q2 Earnings Release

Boeing is due to release second-quarter financials Wednesday. Bloomberg reports investors and industry analysts will be watching closely to see if the confidence exuded by the company last week at Farnborough is softened any by the numbers.

After rival Airbus told investors it thought it might lose as much as 27 percent of its $557 billion order backlog to problems in the airline industry, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson  (right) said he didn't anticipate that level of cancellations at Boeing. At one point he told investors, "we have enough of a backlog that we could maybe build through until the next order cycle."

Bloomberg found analysts hesitant to share Carson's enthusiasm, at least until the 787 Dreamliner program is back on track, and the US Air Force's KC-X tanker controversy is resolved. "Boeing seems completely cocky about how their situation is," noted Macquarie Capital analyst Rob Stallard.

Boeing shares have fallen by more than a third in the past year as airlines have folded, and some which remain have cancelled or deferred orders, or decided to order less-expensive narrowbodies rather than twin-aisle jets. Both are trends which concern investors.

Or, as Baltimore-based Credit Suisse analyst Robert Spingarn noted dryly in a note Monday to investors, "Management generally appears to be more relaxed on the outlook than investors."

In any case, the numbers will have it. Stay tuned.

FMI: www.boeing.com