NEW YORK, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Gains of Boeing's stock gradually narrowed down to a slight 0.4 percent around market close on Wednesday, as investors scrutinized its first-quarter earnings released earlier in the morning.
The Chicago-based aerospace heavyweight saw its stock price settled at 375.46 U.S. dollars per share, an uptick from 374.02 dollars per share on the previous trading day.
Through Wednesday, the stock has rallied over 16 percent year to date.
The shrinking gains of Boeing came as the company posted steep falls in its quarterly earnings and decided to suspend its full-year financial guidance, due to the ongoing grounding of its flagship 737 MAX jets after two fatal crashes.
The aviation giant saw its first-quarter profit, or earnings per share, decline 10 percent year on year (yoy) to reach 3.75 dollars, while its revenue dropped 2 percent yoy to 22.9 billion dollars, which reflected "lower 737 deliveries."
"Due to the uncertainty of the timing and conditions surrounding return to service of the 737 MAX fleet, new guidance will be issued at a future date," Boeing said in the first-quarter earnings report.
Claiming the company going through a "challenging time," Boeing Chairman and CEO Dennis Muilenburg said they are focusing on "safety, returning the 737 MAX to service" and "re-earning the trust and confidence of customers, regulators and the flying public."
For the first quarter, Boeing's commercial airplanes deliveries tumbled 19 percent yoy to 149, dragging its operating margin down 1 percentage point to 9.9 percent yoy, reflecting "lower 737 deliveries" and "increased costs associated with the recent 737 production rate adjustment."
Overall, fewer deliveries caused the commercial airplane company's revenue to have plunged 9 percent to 11.8 billion dollars.
However, the marked loss was partly offset by a favorable portfolio of other commercial jetliners, such as 787 airliner, with an increased production rate and orders from Lufthansa and Bamboo Airways, as well as 777X, with orders from British Airways parent company, the International Airlines Group.
The company also announced to halt its massive stock buyback program, which had driven its share price over the past few years.
As of Wednesday, Boeing's market cap shrank to nearly 212 billion dollars, evaporating around 27 billion since the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March.
On March 10, a 737 MAX 8 jet of the Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, claiming all 157 lives aboard.
The fatal accident happened just five months after another 737 MAX 8, operated by Lion Air, crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 passengers and crew members on Oct. 29, 2018.
The deadly crashes have made regulators around the world ground the 737 MAX airliners and led to broad investigations into the aircraft manufacturer. Boeing later began to work on a software fix to the anti-stall system in the jetliner.
So far, Boeing has completed over 135 tests and production flights with a software update for 737 MAX, and is in the midst of process to final certification for the software update.
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