Zacks_Analysts' Blog : Boeing Opens 787 Assembly Plant - Analyst Blog

The Boeing Co. (BA), on Friday, inaugurated its new 787 Dreamliner Final Assembly building in North Charleston, South Carolina. The company said that the building will help assemble the finest, most technologically advanced commercial widebody airplane in history.

The new Final Assembly building features 642,720 square feet of covered space, roughly the equivalent of 10.5 football fields. More than 18,000 tons of steel and one million cubic feet of concrete were used in its construction. At full production rate, Boeing expects to produce three 787 Dreamliners per month from the South Carolina Final Assembly facility.

The Final Assembly building will also install thin-film solar laminate panels on its roof, which will provide up to 2.6 megawatts of electrical power for the site and will be the largest in the Southeast by production capacity.

At the ceremony, Boeing recognized its Site Services Group and BE&K/Turner, who relentlessly helped complete the construction of the building six months ahead of schedule. Boeing’s employees began moving into the $750 million South Carolina facility in May, while the company expects the final assembly of the first South Carolina-built 787 Dreamliner to begin later this summer.

Based in Chicago, The Boeing Company designs and produces commercial airplanes, defense systems and civil and defense space systems. The company competes with the likes of General Dynamics Corp. (GD), Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC).

Boeing, in its first quarter earnings conference call reaffirmed its fiscal 2011 revenue guidance in the range of $68 billion - $71 billion, of which $31.5 - $33 billion is expected to come from defense contracts. Earnings guidance range for fiscal 2011 is also reaffirmed at $3.80 - $4.00 per share.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2011 is 93 cents per share. For full years 2011 and 2012, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are, respectively, $4.12 per share and $5.33 per share.

We maintain our Neutral recommendation on Boeing. The quantitative Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Neutral rating) for the company indicates no clear directional pressure on the stock over the near term.