Mark Roussin, CPA on $BA (Nov 1, 2026)

Again, I own Boeing, but if you are buying Boeing today hoping for growth in the next month, you shouldn't be buying the stock at all. Remember, I'm not a short-term trader. I am a long-term investor.

And when it comes to Boeing, it isn't a high growth AI company either. It's a turnaround story. And the most important part of that turnaround story, in my opinion, is cash flow.

Looking here at this chart, I wanted to zoom out for you and show you the 5-year chart for Boeing, in which over the period, shares are still down 20%. Things were looking positive until the past week came around and the stock got popped to the tune of negative 10% as you can see here.

Now that goes to show you that Boeing has experienced a difficult several years. They had production challenges, quality control issues, regulatory scrutiny, and significant financial pressures. And those problems don't disappear overnight.

But here's why I'm interested. I believe the long-term demand for commercial aircraft remains substantial. I believe the turnaround and the refocus we are seeing from the new CEO is taking shape.

While there will absolutely be bumps along the road, but there's one thing we can agree on. Airlines need to replace aging fleets. Global air travel continues creating demand for new aircraft, and Boeing operates in an industry with extremely high barriers to entry.

But here's the key. A large order backlog doesn't automatically translate into strong free cash flow. Boeing needs to produce aircraft efficiently, deliver them to customers, improve manufacturing quality, and generate cash from those deliveries.

And that's why I view Boeing as a cash flow turnaround investment.

Let me show you what I'm talking about. Here's a look at the company's free cash flow dating back to 2014 through 2020. Notice anything? This is a company that was generating higher and higher free cash flow year in and year out early on.

Then they had the accident happen overseas in 2019 and Max fleets were grounded for a substantial amount of time not being able to be delivered. Then the pandemic hit in 2020 and into 2021 more mechanical issues happened.

So you can see the impact that was on Boeing and its free cash flow. Now look at this chart where we can see from 24 to 25 we saw growth and now to 26 where we're seeing the turnaround take shape in terms of positive free cash flow.

Now recent developments suggest that the path forward towards stronger cash generation may take longer than investors originally expected and that creates frustration. But notice what I said.

It was a delay. It was not orders that were dropping off. In fact, they have picked up and we'll look at that here in a second. But I think consumers can appreciate a new Boeing looking to ensure they don't create any shortcuts in manufacturing and quality.

And I'm fine with that because if Boeing can eventually return to stronger cash generation, I believe there's meaningful opportunity.

But I want to be very clear here. This is not a low-risk investment. There are execution risks, regulatory risks, and significant financial obligations. But I want you to be the judge.

When you look here at this chart showing backlog for the company, does this look like a company where customers are starting to lack confidence or the company in itself is losing its luster?

No. Orders are in fact ramping to levels we have never seen and the company is increasing its production cycle which will eventually turn this backlog into sales and cash flows.

I'm not simply buying because the stock is below its historical highs. I'm looking to buy because of the possibility of a successful operational turnaround. And that turnaround still needs to be proven and it needs time.

Boeing is an operational turnaround story