Market Update (NYSE:BA): Qatar Airways CEO says cancels first A320neo over delays

[Reuters – UK Focus] – Qatar Airways has cancelled its first Airbus AIR.PA A320neo jet and remains at an impasse with the European planemaker over delays in deliveries caused by engine problems, its chief executive said on Friday. Akbar Al Baker said the carrier would soon start talks with alternative engine supplier CFM, a joint venture between General Electric Co and Safran SA (LSE: 0IU8.L – news) of France. It (Other OTC: ITGL – news) has held talks with rival planemaker Boeing (NYSE: BA – news) over switching to 737s but was not yet walking away from Airbus, he said. Read more on this. The Boeing Company (BA) , with a current market cap of $81.18B, started trading this morning at $126.42. Today’s price range has been between $125.95 and $127.58 per share with a trailing 52-week range being $102.10 to $150.59. Boeing (BA) shares are currently priced at 14.94x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 24.92x earnings multiple for the same period. The company pays shareholders $4.36 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.46%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 15 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $2.14 per share, which would be $0.52 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.02 sequential increase. Investors should also note that the full-year EPS estimate of $8.49 is a $0.77 better when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $23.22 Billion. If realized, that would be a 5.38% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, BofA/Merrill downgraded BA from Neutral to Underperform (Apr 20, 2016). Previously, Canaccord Genuity downgraded BA from Buy to Hold. The average price target for BA shares by the analysts covering the stock is $148.06, which is 17.12% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:BA) Similar Articles: Market Update (NYSE:BA): Boeing 737 MAX Makes First International Journey for Flight Testing Stock Update: The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) – U.S. poised to approve Boeing fighter jet sales to Qatar, Kuwait Market Update (NYSE:BA): Boeing wins contract for 11 P-8A aircraft