Airbus targets 870 deliveries in 2026, competition with Boeing tightens

Airbus mentioned Thursday it expects to ship 870 industrial plane in 2026, barely fewer than the roughly 880 analysts had anticipated.

It comes as strain is constructing for the European planemaker, with U.S. rival Boeing exhibiting indicators of restoration after years of disaster which has benefited Airbus, and mounting tensions with key suppliers.

“International demand for industrial plane underpins our ongoing manufacturing ramp-up, which we’re managing whereas going through vital Pratt & Whitney engine shortages,” mentioned CEO Guillaume Faury.

Airbus has skilled delays on engines equipped by RTX subsidy Pratt & Whitney, which Faury mentioned was “the only most essential matter we’re coping with.”

Shares have been final seen down 5.4%, bringing the inventory to destructive territory to this point in 2026.

Nevertheless, with higher readability on 2026 supply targets and visibility on the manufacturing of its A320 household of planes, a key overhang is eliminated, mentioned Barclays analyst Milene Kerner.

“Pratt & Whitney’s failure to decide to the variety of engines ordered by Airbus is negatively impacting this yr’s steerage and the ramp-up trajectory,” Airbus mentioned in a press release. As a consequence, it expects its narrowbody output charge to be between 70 and 75 plane a month by the top of 2027, and stabilizing at 75 a month thereafter.

“The event is no surprise given the slower supply development noticed via 2025,” Kerner mentioned. Airbus had beforehand focused 75 plane per 30 days in 2027.

Pratt & Whitney father or mother RTX did not instantly reply to a CNBC request for remark.

The sentiment round Airbus has turned markedly extra bitter because the starting of the yr, UBS analyst Ian Douglas-Pennant mentioned forward of the full-year report printed early Thursday.

Airbus delivered 793 industrial plane final yr, barely beating its revised goal of 790. The corporate had minimize its earlier purpose of 820, citing provider high quality points involving fuselage panels that affected deliveries of its A320 household.

Barclays analysts described the disruption as a “momentary execution setback” and mentioned the “long-term ramp” remained “intact.”

Airbus has loved a robust momentum over the previous few years as rival Boeing has been battling a disaster over design and manufacturing points for its best-selling narrowbody airplane, the 737 Max. 

Final yr was characterised by sturdy demand for all Airbus’ merchandise, which additionally embody its helicopters and protection and house models, Faury mentioned Thursday.

Deliveries are a intently watched metric as planemakers obtain the majority of the fee for an plane when it is handed over to the client. 

Airbus delivered 193 extra planes than Boeing in 2025 however Boeing acquired extra orders for the primary time since 2018.

That, together with Airbus’ latest high quality points, has led some to see the tide altering for Boeing beneath the management of CEO Kelly Ortberg.

Ortberg, who took the highest job in 2024 to steer it out of disaster, was optimistic about his firm’s capacity to ramp up manufacturing within the close to time period, after it reported fourth-quarter income forward of Wall Road’s expectations in late January.

Airbus and Boeing’s order backlogs have spiked in recent times as a consequence of provide chain points that arose in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Boeing additionally secured extra deliveries and internet orders within the first month of 2026 than Airbus. 

Boeing delivered 46 plane in January and booked 103 internet orders, whereas Airbus reported solely 19 deliveries and 49 internet orders over the identical interval.

Airbus’ January quantity was notably tender, even accounting for the truth that its deliveries are sometimes decrease in the beginning of the yr.

On a name with analysts on Thursday, Faury mentioned the low January and February deliveries have been primarily pushed by the problems with the fuselage panels, not by engine delays.

“Whereas January deliveries in any given yr shouldn’t be traditionally an excellent indicator of manufacturing charges for the yr, we view 19 deliveries in Jan-26 as materially weaker than anticipated vs 25 delivered in Jan-25,” mentioned UBS in a be aware to shoppers final week.

“Because of the sometimes low ranges YTD, we won’t deduce a lot from this pattern aside from that the anticipated 2026 supply profile is more likely to be back-end-loaded once more,” famous Barclays analysts. 

Airbus reported early Thursday adjusted earnings earlier than curiosity and tax (EBIT) of two.98 billion euros within the fourth quarter, beating estimates of two.87 billion, in accordance with a company-provided consensus ballot and 17% greater year-on-year.

Income rose 5% from final yr and got here in at 25.98 billion euros within the quarter, barely beneath the 26.5 billion euros anticipated.

For the complete yr, EBIT totaled 7.13 billion euros, on income of 73.4 billion euros.

Trying forward, Airbus mentioned it expects adjusted EBIT of round 7.5 billion euros and free money movement earlier than buyer financing of about 4.5 billion euros in 2026, alongside its goal of round 870 industrial plane deliveries.

— CNBC’s Lee Ying Shan contributed to this report.