Shares of
Boeing
supplier
Spirit AeroSystems
are rising after catching an upgrade to Buy.
Monday, Bernstein analyst Douglas Harned upgraded Spirit Aero stock (ticker: SPR) to Buy from Hold. His price target went to $29 from $25.
Spirit Aero stock is up 5.2% to $22.55 in midday trading, while the
S&P 500
is up 0.2% and the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
is flat.
Spirit Aero supplies fuselage sections on several Boeing (BA) jets. It’s been struggling through quality problems, financial pressures, and supply-chain delays resulting from Covid-19 as well as the 2019 to 2020 grounding of the 737 MAX after two deadly crashes.
Boeing and Spirit Aero, on Oct. 18, announced a comprehensive Memorandum of Agreement designed to “enable production increases and enhance quality, predictability. Boeing, essentially, is helping a key supplier. Boeing accounts for roughly 60% of total Spirit Aero sales.
Shares went to $21 from about $17 following the announcement. They are higher today, but they are still down about 9% over the past 12 months, and down about 73% over the past five years. It’s been a tough stretch for the company.
The Boeing deal certainly makes things better. It includes more cash that should help the company generate positive free cash flow, writes Harned. The deal also restructured some future cash payments Spirit Aero will owe to Boeing. That removed another overhang on Spirit Aero stock.
With the upgrade, about 39% of analysts covering Spirit Aero rate shares at Buy. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%.
The average analyst price target on Spirit Aero stock is almost $26, up about $1 since the Boeing deal was announced.
Boeing stock is up 0.9% in midday trading. Shares are actually down since the deal was announced, falling roughly $4 to $181.68. Overall negative market sentiment is mostly responsible. The deal isn’t a bad thing for Boeing, but it’s a big deal for Spirit Aero.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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