Boeing gains after CFO downplays need for additional liquidity

Boeing rose the most in a month after CFO Greg Smith said he didn’t intend to tap the debt market for additional liquidity again, as the planemaker maps out a path through an unprecedented collapse of air travel. The company is husbanding cash to weather potentially “dire” scenarios as it navigates a market still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, Smith said Wednesday at a virtual conference arranged by Jefferies. Liquidity remains a critical focus for investors given Boeing’s cash consumption and ballooning debt. The Covid-19 crisis has upended global aviation and further complicated Boeing’s efforts to return its erstwhile cash cow, the 737 Max, to commercial service. The narrow-body model, Boeing’s best-selling jet, has been grounded almost 17 months after two fatal crashes killed 346 people. The pandemic has piled on pressure by undermining demand for other jetliners and forcing Boeing to burn cash at a record rate. Smith’s views on liquidity helped buoy shareholders, with Boeing advancing 4.6% to $174.31 at 1:49 p.m. in New York after climbing as much as 6% for the biggest gain since late June. But Boeing still faces a long, uncertain recovery from the hole it’s in. Raising almost $40b of debt stabilized Boeing’s liquidity position for now, “yet key credit metrics are likely to remain strained,” Matthew Geudtner, a credit analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said in a report.<br/>