What happened
A major multinational company has sounded the warning about the global economy, and stocks are trading down on Friday as a result. Boeing (BA 3.01%) shares are down more than market averages, losing as much as 5.6% in Friday trading.
So what
Heading into earnings season, investors are bracing for an update on the state of the global economy. A combination of a war in Europe, continued COVID-19 issues in China, and the Federal Reserve's efforts to battle inflation in the United States has investors concerned global growth will slow in the quarters ahead.
Late Thursday, FedEx confirmed those fears. The shipping giant pre-announced earnings for the quarter ending Aug. 31 that were well below expectations and withdrew its financial guidance for the full year. CEO Raj Subramaniam in explaining the miss said, "Global volumes declined as macroeconomic trends significantly worsened later in the quarter."
Some of the issues could be FedEx specific, but it's pretty easy to see why investors are worried that Subramaniam's observations will have a strong effect on a wide range of companies.
Boeing, with a global order book and customers, airline companies, that buy more planes when times are good and travel demand is robust, is an obvious target for these concerns. Boeing has endured a difficult few years due to self-inflicted quality issues and the impact of the pandemic. It had been hoping for robust demand for new planes in the years to come to boost cash flows and help it to pay down some of the debt it took on during the crisis.
Boeing's total debt has ballooned by more than 400% since the start of 2018. If there is a prolonged slowdown, the company's campaign to fix its balance sheet and get airborne again will surely take longer than investors had hoped.
NYSE: BA
Key Data Points
Now what
The good news for Boeing is that the company does appear on the upswing, and any questions about the recovery have more to do with timing. Speaking at an investor event on Thursday, Boeing CFO Brian West said he expects the company to be cash flow positive this year. He also said the company has "sufficient liquidity" to deal with whatever comes its way.
Boeing will get to its destination, but for now owners of the stock are enduring a layover with no clear idea of how long this journey will take. Given the uncertainty, there isn't much reason to get excited about Boeing shares right now.
