How the new Boeing CEO could turn the company around
Boeing (BA) has reached a tentative agreement with striking workers from the International Association of Machinists union, which could put an end to the five-week-long strike. Jason Gursky, Citi managing director, aerospace and defense lead analyst, joins Morning Brief to discuss the news and Boeing's overall outlook as its new CEO seeks to turn the company around. Grusky notes that the gross wage increase in this version of the agreement is higher, which Gursky calls a step "in the right direction." As the agreement heads to a vote on Wednesday, he adds that the company will find out "whether it was a big enough step." As Boeing seeks to shore up $35 billion more to boost its balance sheet, he notes that its earnings call on Wednesday will be key for investors to learn what the plan is for the company moving forward under new CEO Kelly Ortberg: "What I expect to hear from him is that he's going to get engaged in cost-cutting as a way to increase the outlook for profitability. I suspect that they'll begin talking about product and customer pruning and trying to get out of businesses that don't have paths to profitability for them, again, as a way of increasing the structural profitability of the company. And then perhaps engaging in some divestments as a way to raise some liquidity... The sacred cows, I think, at Boeing are commercial aircraft, fighter jets, and helicopters. And I suspect that everything else is likely to be evaluated for either potential wind down or sale as the company looks to turn itself around." While some investors are worried about the risk of a potential bankruptcy for Boeing, Gursky believes that the company is nowhere near that point. "The demand outlook here for the company is very robust. We have a backlog that stretches out well into the next decade, and what the company needs to figure out how to do is to better execute here in the near to medium term so that it can start generating some cash," he tells Yahoo Finance. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
