The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) Q3 2023 Earnings Conference Call October 25, 2023 10:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Matt Welch – Vice President-Investor Relations

Dave Calhoun – President and Chief Executive Officer

Brian West – Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Doug Harned – Bernstein

Jason Gursky – Citi

Peter Arment – RW Baird

Myles Walton – Wolfe Research

Sheila Kahyaoglu – Jefferies

Cai von Rumohr – TD Cowen

Seth Seifman – JPMorgan

Noah Poponak – Goldman Sachs

David Strauss – Barclays

Rich Safran – Seaport Research Partners

Operator

Thank you for standing by. Good day, everyone, and welcome to The Boeing Company's Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. The management discussion and slide presentation, plus the analysts' question-and-answer session are being broadcast live over the internet. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I'm turning the conference over to Mr. Matt Welch, Vice President of Investor Relations for Boeing Company. Mr. Welch, please go ahead.

Matt Welch

Thank you and good morning. Welcome to Boeing's quarterly earnings call. I am Matt Welch, and with me today are Dave Calhoun, Boeing's President and Chief Executive Officer; and Brian West, Boeing's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, you can follow today's broadcast and slide presentation at boeing.com. As always, detailed financial information is included in today's press release. Furthermore, projections, estimates and goals included in today's discussion involve risks, including those described in our SEC filings and in the forward-looking statement disclaimer at the end of the web presentation. In addition, we refer you to our earnings release and presentation for disclosures and reconciliation of certain non-GAAP measures.

Now I will turn the call over to Dave Calhoun.

Dave Calhoun

Thank you, Matt, and thanks to all for joining us this morning. Let me start with a comment on the conflict in Israel and Gaza. We were saddened to see the horrific attacks on Israel and the escalating conflict in the region that is resulting in a significant humanitarian emergency. We will continue to monitor the situation. We will focus on the safety of our employees and we will aid those in need. As always, we'll follow the lead of the U.S. government and we'll coordinate closely with government agencies, customers and suppliers, always with safety, security and well-being as our top priority.

Now let me turn to the quarter. As you know, we ran into a few challenges over the last several months, but we've demonstrated that we know how to overcome obstacles and it will continue to do just that. We knew 2023 would be a bumpy ride. We have more work to do, but overall, we're making progress in our recovery and we are on track to meet the financial goals we shared for this year and for the 2025/2026 time frame. A time frame I refer to as stability. As you know, free cash flow has been our primary financial metric through this recovery. And based on our performance year-to-date, we still plan to be in the guidance range for the year as well as the $10 billion target by 2025 and 2026. This is a complex long cycle business and driving stability takes time, especially as an entire industry works its way back from the impact of a global pandemic. We expect challenges to come our way. And when they do, we are transparent. We take action and we move forward. So month to month and quarter to quarter, it can be tough to predict, but we're focused on the long-term and we're taking the tough actions now to ensure that the long-term future is strong.