Is The Boeing Company (BA) More Attractive Than Its Peers?

Based on these numbers, it would seem as though Boeing is the worst investment option of the three, but that’s not likely to be the case. Sometimes, short positions can also tell an important story.

For instance, the short position on The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) is just 1.40%, whereas the short position on Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) is 3.70%, and the short position on Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) is 3.50%. Boeing likely owes its lower short interest to relatively lower dependence on government spending and high demand for commercial aircraft.

Conclusion

Boeing has grown revenue for two consecutive years. However, last quarter its revenue declined 2.5% year over year. If Boeing runs into top-line growth problems, it won’t hesitate to cut costs and return more capital to shareholders. This is potentially bad news for employees, but it’s good news for investors.

As stated above, Boeing has been a steady winner for decades, but it should be pointed out that Boeing isn’t resilient in bear markets. For example, Boeing dropped approximately 60% during the financial crisis of 2008/2009, whereas the S&P 500 dropped approximately 50%.

The good news is that Boeing is in a stronger position now than it was several years ago, and the stock has always eventually recouped losses and gone on to make new highs after a difficult stretch. Due to a slow-growth economy, turbulence is likely at some point over the next several years, but Boeing is a long-term winner.

Dan Moskowitz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Dan is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

The article Is Boeing More Attractive Than Its Peers? originally appeared on Fool.com is written by Dan Moskowitz.

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