Spirit AeroSystems said its fourth quarter 2024 revenues will hit $1.66bn on February 10, 2025, in its preliminary results. The results exceed Wall Street estimates of around $1.5bn, though still down from fourth quarter 2023 revenues of $1.8bn.
The revenue drop from 2023 was largely from the impact of the agreement with Boeing in October 2023, where both companies agreed to “work shoulder to shoulder” to improve quality and quantity of deliveries and was recognised in Spirit's fourth quarter 2023 results.
“[This included] favourably pricing adjustments on the Boeing 787 programme and the reversal of the potential claim related to the Boeing 737 vertical fin attach fittings issues,” Spirit read in its results. Revenue decline was partially offset by higher defence and space revenues in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The company expects a fourth quarter net loss of $413 million, swinging from its net profit of $291 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. Cost of sales are set to be $2.1bn in the quarter, up from $1.5bn a year prior.
Free cash flow improved from $42 million, up to $91 million — largely driven by higher 737 deliveries.
During the quarter, the company delivered 160 Boeing shipsets (one shipset being equal to one aircraft), up from 133 a year prior. 737 deliveries were 133, up from 104 in 2023, as well as 787 shipset deliveries at 19, up from 11.
For the full year, total Boeing deliveries were 376, down from 457 a year prior. 737 deliveries were 268, down from 356. 787 deliveries were 55, up from 36 in 2023.
In a report from Reuters on February 4, 2025, a Boeing executive reportedly told a Seattle aerospace conference that Spirit had a substantial inventory of 737 fuselages that are apparently ready to be shipped.
With a regulatory production cap on the 737 MAX to 38 per month — a cap it has yet to reach — and with aspirations to heighten the cap to 42 per month later in the year, the fuselage supply will no doubt a boon after a turbulent and difficult 2024 for the US aircraft assembler.
Airbus shipset deliveries totalled 231 in the quarter, up from 196 a year prior. A320 family deliveries were 181, up from 150. A220 deliveries were up from 20 shipsets in the fourth quarter of 2023, up to 26 deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2024. A330 deliveries were flat at nine and A350 deliveries were down from 17 to 15.
For the full year, Airbus shipset deliveries for the year totalled 825, up from 725 in 2023. A320 family deliveries in the year were 648, up from 573; A220 deliveries were 82, up from 63; A330 deliveries were only up one shipset to 36 in the year; A350 deliveries were 59, up from 54.
Overall deliveries, including Airbus, Boeing, as well as business and regional jets for the quarter, were 457 — up from 398 a year prior. For the full year, overall shipset deliveries were 1,432 for the year, up from 1,418 from 2023.
As of the end of 2024, the company had a total debt of $4.4bn, up from $4.1bn a year prior.
The company held $537 million in cash. During the quarter, Spirit reached an agreement with both Airbus and Boeing, with its customers providing cash funding. Boeing had agreed to provide advance payments of up to $350 million. Airbus agreed to provide a non-interest bearing line of credit up to $107 million. As of the end of 2024, the company had $200 million in advance from Boeing and $70 million in advance from Airbus.
At the end of January this year, Spirit's shareholders approved the company's acquisition by Boeing in an equity deal, which had been announced in July last year. Boeing acquired Spirit for $37.25 per share in Boeing common stock, which accumulates to an enterprise value of approximately $8.3bn. The transaction is expected to close in the mid-point of this year.