Boeing stock sinks 9% as company says it won't significantly ramp up 737 Max production until late 2027

Boeing doesn't expect to significantly ramp up output of its best-selling 737 Max aircraft until the second half of 2027 as it grapples with a slower-than-expected pace of wing production.

CEO Kelly Ortberg said Tuesday on the company's quarterly earnings call that Boeing is targeting a production rate of 52 planes a month in the second half of 2027. It has been manufacturing about 47 of its 737 Max planes a month.

Ortberg had told investors last month that the production stabilize was taking a "little bit longer" than expected becuase of the wings production pace.

Boeing stock was down about 9% during the call.

"I know everybody wants us to go faster but we're going to do it right," Ortberg told CNBC's Phil LeBeau in an interview Tuesday.

Ortberg reiterated the company's priority in stabilizing production on Tuesday.

"Looking ahead, expectations are rising, and they should," Ortberg said in a note to staff on Tuesday. "That means elevating our performance through lean, productivity and efficiency improvements in our day-to-day work while upholding our high levels of safety and quality."

Aircraft production and deliveries are key to Boeing's recovery since the bulk of an aircraft's price is paid when the customer receives it.

The company also reported Tuesday that it narrowed its losses in the third quarter, thanks to a boost from its defense unit.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, Boeing reported a net loss of $116 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with a $5.34 billion loss, or $7.14 per share, a year earlier. Adjusting for one-time items, the company posted a loss of 34 cents a share. A year earlier, Boeing had taken a nearly $5 billion charge on its long-delayed 777X aircraft program.

Revenue climbed 4% on the year to $24.19 billion. Free cash flow rose to $464 million from $238 million in the third quarter of 2025.

The company's defense unit revenue jumped 15% in the third quarter from a year earlier to $7.94 billion.

Here's what Boeing reported for the third quarter compared with what Wall Street analysts expected, according to consensus estimates from LSEG:

Loss per share: 34 cents adjusted vs. a loss of 21 cents expected

Revenue: $24.19 billion vs $23.84 billion expected.

Boeing delivered 161 commercial airplanes in the third quarter, one more jet than a year earlier.

Revenue in the all-important commercial aircraft business fell 3% to $10.72 billion. The unit had a negative operating margin of 6.5% because of a "less favorable delivery mix, higher projected costs associated with future production rate adjustments and higher estimated supply chain costs," Boeing said.

Ortberg told staff in a memo that the manufacturer has "more work to do."