Boeing, Airbus Sold 11 Planes YTD vs. 884 Last Year

11 net Jetliner sales YTD vs. 884 in the same period last year. Ouch. Despite the horrendous sales environent, Boeing (BA) shares are up about 65% from their lows earlier this year.

Boeing collected zero net orders in the first five months of the year as 65 purchase agreements were countered by an equal number of cancellations. Airbus had 11 net orders after 21 were dropped. That compares with a combined 884 agreements in the same period a year ago, the end of a four-year buying spree in which airlines rushed to land more fuel-efficient jets amid surging oil prices.

Luckily Boeing is not too leveraged, with only ~$6bn in net debt vs. market cap of $37bn and trailing EBITDA of ~$4.5bn. Analysts also still have them making money over the next two years, due to their orderbook.

As airlines cancel orders, Airbus and Chicago-based Boeing are scrambling to fill delivery slots with other customers willing to accept planes earlier. The companies have enough work to keep them busy for at least seven years, and both insist the long-term outlook is rosy.

For 2009, Toulouse, France-based Airbus still plans 480 deliveries, only three less than 2008, a record year. Boeing plans 480 to 485, returning to a growth trajectory intended before a strike cut 2008 deliveries to 375. Many planes being shipped this year were financed before the credit crunch.

Supplier Doubts... For 2010, the outlook is less clear, with suppliers less optimistic than planemakers...The collapse in orders will be followed by a “deep decline” in deliveries spread over three to four years

So there are still a lot of deliveries ahead for the year, thus Boeing is likely to feel the effects of the current decline as a drag on future years. Today's bad news will show up in tomorrow's numbers. Jetliner sales have come off of a boom and are unlikely to get back to their recent levels for many years. Boeing will get through it, but earnings could be lackluster for awhile.