Boeing Shares Flying High
Boeing
(BA) - Get Report
shares surged to their highest level in three-and-a-half years Thursday, driven by expectations for strong international demand for commercial planes and continuing rumors of a big plane order from Indonesia's Lion Air.
Boeing shares were trading up $2.73, or 4.9%, at $58.03, the day's high and the stock's loftiest level since Aug. 6, 2001, when it hit an intraday high of $59.80. Thursday's volume of 6.3 million shares traded was almost double the three-month average of 3.2 million.
Shares appeared to be gaining from rumors that Jakarta-based Lion Air had signed a memorandum of understanding to order 40 planes from Boeing, said Paul Nisbet, an analyst at JSA Research. (Nisbet owns no shares of Boeing, and JSA does no business with companies its analysts cover.)
Bob Saling, a Boeing spokesman, said the company was in discussions with Lion Air but added, "We don't have an order at this point."
The stock also appeared to be getting a lift from general expectations that Boeing will see strong demand for commercial planes, Nisbet said. The company has notched a series of orders recently from non-U.S. airlines, and "the expectations are that indeed we're really at the beginning of a recovery on the commercial side," the analyst added.