Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA)

The financial margins reveal fluctuating performance over the observed quarters. The gross profit margin started negative in early 2021, showing a weak position with improvements nearing positive territory by the end of that year. The margin then displayed a general upward trend through 2023, peaking around the first quarter of 2024 before experiencing a decline and some volatility in subsequent quarters, ending slightly above zero in the third quarter of 2025.

Operating profit margin followed a similar but more consistently negative trajectory, starting at a significant negative level in early 2021 and showing gradual recovery through 2023 but never reaching positive figures. The margin deteriorated again in 2024 and continued to weaken towards the third quarter of 2025, indicating persistent challenges in operating efficiency or cost control.

Net profit margin trends mirrored the operating margin closely, remaining negative throughout the entire period. The margin showed some improvement until early 2024, reaching its highest point in that timeframe, but then experienced sharp declines through 2024 and 2025, suggesting continued profitability pressures and possibly increased non-operating costs or expenses.

Return on assets (ROA) maintained a consistently negative range across all quarters from 2021 to 2025. Although some improvement occurred by late 2023 and early 2024, ROA declined significantly again, reflecting low returns on the company's asset base and ongoing operational inefficiencies or losses. The ROA figures indicate consistent difficulties in generating profits from the assets employed.

Gross Profit Margin

Fluctuated from negative to positive and back, peaking in early 2024, but declining afterward with volatility through 2025.

Operating Profit Margin

Remained negative throughout, improving gradually until early 2024, followed by a steep decline through 2025, indicating sustained operating challenges.

Net Profit Margin

Consistently negative, with modest recovery until early 2024, then deteriorating sharply, reflecting continued profitability struggles.

Return on Assets (ROA)

Persistently negative with minor improvements mid-period, but declined again, indicating ongoing inefficiency in asset utilization.

Revenue Trend

The revenue exhibited a generally fluctuating pattern over the observed quarters. Initial revenues increased from approximately $15.2 billion to nearly $17.0 billion by mid-2021, followed by a decrease towards the end of 2021. Starting in early 2022, revenue showed a recovery and upward movement, reaching a peak of about $22.0 billion in late 2022. Post that peak, revenues fluctuated again without a clear upward or downward trajectory, ranging between approximately $15.2 billion and $23.3 billion through 2025.

Gross Profit (Loss) Analysis

Gross profit displayed significant volatility during the periods. It started positively in early 2021 with values above $1.4 billion, then sharply declined to a loss of around $2.5 billion by the end of 2021. Subsequent quarters in 2022 showed recovery and then decline again, alternating between profit and loss. In 2023 and 2024, profits reached highs above $2.6 billion but were punctuated by sharp losses exceeding $3.5 billion. By 2025, gross profit continued to fluctuate, including notable losses and moderate profits, underscoring unstable profitability.

Gross Profit Margin Dynamics

The gross profit margin started negative in early 2021, indicating losses relative to revenue. Margins saw slight improvements by late 2021, reaching positive figures around 4.8%, followed by minor fluctuations hovering near zero margin, both positive and negative. During 2023 and early 2024, the margin improved steadily, peaking at around 10%, indicating stronger profitability efficiency relative to revenue. However, from late 2024 onward, margins fell sharply again, turning negative and demonstrating erosion in profitability despite continued solid revenues.

Overall Performance Insight

The data reveals a company experiencing significant swings in profitability while maintaining variable revenue levels. The inconsistency in gross profit and margins, especially the alternating quarters of high profits and substantial losses, points to challenges in cost management or changing market conditions affecting cost structures and sales efficiency. Although revenue generation is relatively robust, the volatility in gross profit margins suggests underlying operational or external factors impacting earnings stability over the medium term.

Revenues

The revenue figures exhibit a generally fluctuating trend throughout the periods analyzed. Starting from approximately $15.2 billion in the first quarter of 2021, revenues increased and decreased in subsequent quarters, peaking notably at around $22.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023 and again reaching roughly $23.3 billion by the third quarter of 2025. There are intermittent dips, such as in the first quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2025, but the overall trend suggests a gradual increase in revenues over the long term.

Earnings (Loss) from Operations

Operating earnings show significant volatility across the examined quarters. Initial positive earnings in the mid-2021 quarters are offset by sharp losses, especially from the fourth quarter of 2021 to later quarters such as the third quarter of 2024 and the third quarter of 2025, where losses deepen substantially (reaching a low of -$5.8 billion in the third quarter of 2024). Although some recovery periods are observed, such as modest positive earnings near the end of 2023 and in early 2025, these fluctuations indicate ongoing operational challenges and instability in profitability.

Operating Profit Margin

The operating profit margin consistently remains negative throughout the periods, reflecting persistent operational losses relative to revenues. The margins worsen at various points, hitting a low of about -20.36% in the first quarter of 2021 and deteriorating again significantly in the third quarter of 2024, corresponding to negative earnings during these times. Slight improvements are visible in some quarters (such as near zero margins in the fourth quarter of 2023), but these remain marginal, and the overall margin trend indicates regular operating inefficiencies and financial pressures over time.

Summary of Financial Trends

Overall, the data indicates a company experiencing considerable volatility in its operational earnings and profit margins despite an upward or stable trend in revenue generation. The recurring negative operating margins and widely fluctuating operating earnings suggest challenges in converting revenue growth into sustained profitability. These challenges may involve cost control, pricing pressures, or other operational inefficiencies. The inconsistent earnings performance despite revenue growth highlights the need for strategic measures aimed at stabilizing operations and improving margin performance to achieve more consistent profitability.

Revenue Trends

Revenues exhibited variability across the observed periods, ranging from a low near 13,991 million US dollars to a high exceeding 23,000 million US dollars. There was a general pattern of fluctuation with some quarters showing marked increases, such as the rise to approximately 22,018 million US dollars by the end of 2023, followed by intermittent declines. The later periods indicated a recovery and upward trend reaching above 23,000 million US dollars by the first quarter of 2025.

Net Earnings (Loss) Patterns

Net earnings displayed significant volatility and predominantly negative values throughout the timeline. Several quarters recorded substantial losses, notably near -6,170 million US dollars and -6,337 million US dollars in late 2024 and early 2025. Occasional positive net earnings occurred early in the observed timeframe, but these were interspersed with heavy losses, pointing to ongoing challenges in profitability.

Net Profit Margin Observations

The net profit margin consistently remained negative across all periods, indicating a persistent lack of profitability. Margins fluctuated but generally hovered between approximately -2.8% and -20.9%. The worst margins corresponded with quarters of large net losses, underscoring the negative earnings trends. A slight easing of negative margins was seen in some quarters but without reaching positive territory.

Overall Financial Performance Insights

The data reflects a company experiencing continuing financial headwinds, with unstable revenue increases overshadowed by substantial net losses and negative profit margins. While revenue growth showed some positive momentum toward the end of the period, profitability challenges remained acute, suggesting ongoing operational or market-related difficulties impacting the bottom line.

The financial data demonstrates notable volatility and a generally negative trend in earnings as well as fluctuations in shareholders' equity over the quarters examined.

Net Earnings (Loss) Attributable to Shareholders

The net earnings reveal a pattern of significant losses interspersed with occasional profitable quarters. Early on, the company experienced negative earnings, such as a loss of $537 million in the first quarter of 2021, followed by a gain of $587 million in the next quarter, and subsequent fluctuations including considerable losses in several quarters. Notably, the fourth quarter of 2021 and the third quarter of 2022 featured substantial losses of $4,143 million and $3,275 million respectively. The trend continues with losses predominantly outweighing gains through to 2025, including a particularly large loss of $6,170 million in the third quarter of 2024. Towards the end of the period, the losses remain material, suggesting ongoing challenges in profitability and earnings stability.

Shareholders’ Deficit

The shareholders’ deficit displays a generally increasing negative value across the timeline, indicating a worsening equity position. Starting at a deficit of approximately $18 billion in the first quarter of 2021, the figure undergoes fluctuations, rising to a lower deficit level around mid-2021 and mid-2022, but mostly trending downward again afterwards. There is a sharp decrease in deficit levels reaching a notably lower negative figure near the third quarter of 2024, followed by some improvement yet remaining significantly negative through to 2025. This situation reflects ongoing equity challenges, implying that liabilities have outweighed assets substantially over the periods analyzed.

Return on Equity (ROE)

The absence of ROE data limits direct assessment of this profitability measure, but given the persistent net losses and shareholders’ deficit, it can be inferred that ROE would likely be negative or declining during these quarters, consistent with deteriorating profitability and shareholders' equity.

In summary, the data portrays a company facing significant financial stress characterized by recurrent net losses and an increasing shareholders’ deficit, indicating capital erosion and challenging financial sustainability. The fluctuations observed in earnings do not translate into sustained profitability, and the shareholders' deficit trend underscores ongoing equity deficits that could affect the company’s capitalization and financial health going forward.

The analysis of the quarterly financial data reveals several noteworthy trends and patterns associated with profitability, asset base, and overall return on assets.

Net Earnings (Loss) Attributable to Shareholders (US$ in millions)

The net earnings exhibit considerable volatility and predominantly negative values over the entire period. Initial quarters display significant losses such as -537 million and -4143 million, interspersed with occasional positive earnings, notably 587 million and 193 million. Starting from early 2024, the net losses tend to deepen, with extreme losses such as -6170 million and -5337 million in the latter quarters. The pattern indicates persistent financial challenges with intermittent short-term recoveries but generally a downward trajectory in profitability.

Total Assets (US$ in millions)

Total assets fluctuate moderately across the timeline. A decline is evident from over 150 billion in early 2021 to a trough near 134 billion around early 2023. Subsequently, there is an upward trend, peaking at approximately 156 billion in mid-2025, followed by a slight decline towards 150 billion by the last reported quarter. The asset base demonstrates a recovery phase after a period of contraction, implying possible asset acquisition or revaluation in the mid to later quarters of the timeline.

Return on Assets (ROA, %)

ROA consistently remains negative throughout the observed duration, reflecting unprofitable use of the asset base. Starting with values near -7.85% and improving slightly towards -1.6% through 2023 and early 2024, ROA worsens again in subsequent quarters, reaching levels close to -7.56%. This cyclical pattern of ROA suggests ongoing operational inefficiencies or sustained losses relative to assets, despite phases where negative returns were reduced.

In summary, the data points to ongoing challenges in achieving profitability, with periods of extreme losses coupled with occasional brief recoveries. The asset base experienced contraction followed by recovery, while returns on assets remained negative, reinforcing the overall negative profitability trend across quarters.