Results For Boeing

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Boeing Co.'s fourth-quarter earnings rose 4% as improved productivity helped to offset sluggish sales growth, the aerospace giant and Dow Jones Industrial Average component reported Wednesday.

In addition, the Chicago-based company ( BA 80.96, +3.36, +4.3%) raised its 2008 earnings forecast.

For 2008, Boeing said it now expects to generate earnings of $5.70 to $5.85 a share, up from a prior range of $5.55 to $5.75 a share.
For final three months of 2007, net earnings were $1.03 billion, or $1.36 a share, up from $989 million or $1.29 a share, in the year-earlier quarter.
Quarterly revenue fell a fraction from last year to $17.48 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected, on average, earnings of $1.32 a share as well as revenue of $17.3 billion.
Boeing's stock has taken a pounding for the year to date and has fallen about 24% since striking an all-time high in July of $107.83 because of delays in its next-generation wide-body aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner.

In premarket trading on Wednesday, Boeing shares were up 4 cents to $80.96.
"We added substantial backlog, made major efficiency gains, and executed well on our production and services programs," said Chief Executive Jim McNerney in a statement. "Despite some development program challenges, we are a strong company growing stronger, and we expect continued improvement in our financial results in 2008 and beyond."
Boeing said its total backlog at the end of 2007 reached $327 billion, up 31%. The improvement was driven by commercial airplane orders and new defense-related contracts.
On Jan. 16, Boeing delayed for the third time its 787 program, a widely expected event that nonetheless shook investor confidence in its ability to ramp the program up to any meaningful rate by 2010.

Boeing has said it no longer expects to reach its 2009 delivery target of 109 planes, but management has yet to provide an update. The company said Wednesday it still expects the 787's maiden flight to occur in the second quarter, followed by first deliveries pegged for early in 2009.
Makers of aircraft and related parts and services have seen a boon in global demand, thanks to growing commercial traffic and higher corporate profits