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Boeing said it would report a much bigger fourth-quarter loss than Wall Street anticipated as it took $2.8bn in charges stemming from a six-week-long strike, higher costs in its defence business and cuts to its workforce.
The plane maker said it lost $5.46 per share between October and December on $15.2bn in revenue, while it burnt $3.5bn in cash, according to a preliminary filing. Wall Street analysts expected a loss of $1.55 per share and $16.6bn in revenue, according to FactSet data.
The company is scheduled to report full-year earnings next week. Shares closed at $178.50 on Thursday but fell more than 1.5 per cent in after-hours trading.
Chief executive Kelly Ortberg said that while Boeing faced “near-term challenges, we took important steps to stabilise our business during the quarter”, reaching a deal with the International Association of Machinists District 751 and raising more than $24bn in equity to bolster its balance sheet.
“Our team remains focused on the hard work ahead to build a new future for Boeing,” he said.
Machinists brought production to a standstill at Boeing’s factories around Seattle in the autumn, which Boeing said resulted in lower deliveries and a pre-tax earnings charge of $1.1bn on the 777X and 767 programmes.
The defence business took a $1.7bn charge spread across five programmes: the KC-46A tanker, T-7A trainer jet, MQ-25 drone, the commercial crew space capsule and its low-volume, high-prestige project, Air Force One.
