Is Airbus stock a buy?

Since falling off a cliff at the start of the pandemic, European aerospace compay Airbus SE (Airbus SE Stock Quote, Charts, News, Analysts, Financials ENX.PA:AIR) has been a huge winner of a stock to own. And with competitor Boeing seemingly faltering of late and air travel booming, investors will be curious to see what’s coming up for Airbus.

At the Paris Airshow on Monday, Airbus released details on a flurry of new deals, including a record 500-plane agreement with Indian airline IndiGo. Airbus calls it the biggest single purchase order in the history of commercial aviation and it puts Airbus’ IndiGo total plane order at 1,330 for its A320 planes.

“This landmark order marks a new chapter in Airbus and IndiGo’s relationship that is democratising affordable air travel for millions of people in the world’s fastest growing aviation market. It is also a resounding endorsement of the A320 Family’s best-in-class operating economics that have been powering IndiGo’s growth for almost two decades,” said Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International at Airbus in a press release.

Airbus, which went public in 2000, trades on a number of exchanges, including the Euronext Paris, the main exchange in France, under the ticker symbol AIR. Airbus also trades on the Frankfurt, Madrid and London stock exchanges.

AIR lost over half of its value in early 2020, as markets gave up on airlines and aerospace in the face of COVID-19 and its restrictions on flying. It’s now three years later and while Airbus’ share price has risen most of the way back and supply chain issues continue to hamper the aviation industry the waning of COVID and a surge in demand for air travel worldwide are making some see Airbus as a good bet for further upside.

Concerns mounted after Airbus’ recently quarterly report in May, where the world’s biggest commercial aircraft maker saw slower aircraft deliveries, which impacted both its top and bottom lines. 

Airbus said its order backlog stood at 7,254 commercial aircraft at the end of March, while consolidated revenue dropped to €11.8 billion compared to €12.0 billion a year earlier. Consolidated adjusted EBIT also dropped to €773 million compared to €1,263 million a year earlier.

“We continue to face an adverse operating environment that includes in particular persistent tensions in the supply chain,” said Guillaume Faury, CEO, in a press release. “Our 2023 guidance is unchanged with commercial aircraft deliveries expected to be backloaded. We remain focused on delivering the commercial aircraft ramp-up and longer-term transformation.”