Boeing's (NYSE: BA) management continues to take a temperate approach to guidance even as increasingly positive news emerges from the industry. The key to the company's future is the successful ramp in producing its commercial airplanes. It's something that's been challenged by ongoing supply chain issues, but the good news is management's cautious tone on the matter is potentially setting the company up to overdeliver. 

The aerospace giant's key programs are the narrowbody 737 MAX (currently produced at 31 a month), the widebody 787 (produced at a low rate, with plans to hit five a month this year), and the widebody 777/777X (three a month). As a reminder, the essential parts of Boeing's plan to hit $10 billion in free cash flow are aircraft production assumptions (see table below).

It won't be a walk in the park to get there. For example, during the fourth-quarter earnings in late January, CFO Brian West told investors at a conference that the 787 "will be under the five per month production rate a bit longer than expected due to a supplier constraint that has temporarily slowed production".

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Source Fool.com