Boeing (NYSE:BA) Largely Flat as Company Eyes Space Travel – TipRanks.com

While aerospace company Boeing (NYSE:BA) fends off regulators and whistleblowers alike on the ground, it’s looking to its future and setting up a plan accordingly. That plan? Space. The Boeing Starliner is taking shape, reports note, and shareholders find the concept perhaps a little too much to take in. Shares are up fractionally in Thursday afternoon’s trading as Boeing looks beyond the skies for its future.

The Boeing Starliner crew capsule is getting a test flight next month, reports note, as the capsule is currently being mounted to an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance. This will be the first manned launch, reports note, and with the launch of the Starliner Crew Flight Test in May, over 15 years’ worth of development will reach its zenith. It wasn’t supposed to take this long, say the reports, nor was it supposed to cost this much. The project is both overdue and over budget.

Salvaging the Bottom Line

Some might look at Boeing’s recent track record with aircraft and believe that the idea of trusting them to take you into space—and back—is a bridge too far. Still, there are some signs that Boeing might be able to use the Starliner as a means to shore up its declining presence in the aircraft market. In fact, some are looking to a potential deal with NASA to liven things up. Boeing certainly has a challenge on its hands in rebuilding customer trust.

Undoubtedly, that’s been hit in recent days as whistleblowers hit Congress with dark tales of threats, intimidation, and incompetence. But if Boeing can get astronauts into space successfully, then it may have all the juice it needs to get investors back in the door and give its stock price a boost as well.

Is BA Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on BA stock based on 17 Buys, six Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After an 18.45% loss in its share price over the past year, the average BA stock price target of $232.36 per share implies 36.45% upside potential.

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