Airbus Turns Cash Positive as Boeing Keeps Flailing
During the first half of 2020, Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Airbus (OTC: EADSY) seemed to suffer equally from the COVID-19 pandemic. The sharp plunge in air travel demand led airlines to defer and cancel orders en masse, causing both aircraft manufacturing giants to bleed cash.
However, Airbus separated itself from Boeing in the third quarter. Deliveries of its A320 family of jets have rebounded to respectable levels, driving strong improvement in Airbus' financial results last quarter: particularly its cash flow. Meanwhile, the competing 737 MAX family remains grounded due to a pair of fatal accidents in late 2018 and early 2019, weighing heavily on Boeing's results.
The abrupt change in market conditions earlier this year led Airbus to build far more jets in the first half of 2020 than its customers were willing to accept. The company delivered 196 commercial jets in that six-month period: down 50% year over year. As a result, by the end of June, it had about 145 completed jets that could not be delivered because of the pandemic sitting in its inventory.
Source Fool.com
