Boeing's stock fell at its strongest pace since November. What's wrong with its airplanes again

US airplane manufacturer Boeing said it will delay some deliveries of its most popular 737 Max airliners due to a wiring defect. Because of this, the stock showed its strongest drop since November 2025. Although the company assured that its annual delivery plan for this model remains unchanged, investors are reacting nervously to the news about the airplanes' quality problems.

Boeing found small scratches on wires on a group of airplanes, a company spokeswoman said in a statement quoted by Bloomberg.

"Our 737 program is making refinements to a group of aircraft to eliminate minor wire scratches due to a machining error. This will ensure that our quality standards are met before the airplanes are delivered," said a Boeing spokeswoman.

Fixing the damage will take several days, the company says. It did not specify exactly how many airliners were affected by the problem, Bloomberg notes. Despite the defect, Boeing has maintained its plan to deliver about 500 737s this year.

The wiring problems could be a "near-term headwind" to the company's first-quarter financial results, Bloomberg quoted analyst Ken Herbert of RBC Capital Markets as saying.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Bloomberg it was looking into the problem, but declined to comment further.

Boeing shares fell by 3.2% at the end of trading in the U.S. on March 10. This was their strongest decline for the day since November 20, 2025, Bloomberg noted.

Shares of Boeing have barely changed in price since the beginning of 2026: they are now only 0.3% more expensive than they were in early January. But most analysts advise buying the securities: they have a combined 23 Buy and Overweight ratings versus six Hold (recommendation to hold) and one Sell (sell), MarketWatch shows.

The 737 program is under scrutiny because it is the most important source of revenue for Boeing and a key factor in repaying the company's debt, Bloomberg notes. In addition, Boeing is trying to get out of the crisis related to questions about the quality of airplanes after two airplane crashes and an incident at Alaska Airlines, when a door broke off during the flight.

Boeing delivered 51 commercial airplanes in February, the highest number for that month since 2017. The figure exceeded deliveries by rival Airbus, which handed over 35 airliners to customers over the same period. Meanwhile, Boeing is still awaiting U.S. regulatory approval to upgrade the engine de-icing system on two versions of the 737 Max, Boeing Vice President Cathie Ringgold said.

Boeing is also negotiating a major deal to supply up to 500 such airplanes to China. It may be announced during US President Donald Trump's visit to Beijing later in March, Bloomberg recalls.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor