Boeing reported revenue ahead of Wall Street expectations for the fourth quarter as the company’s turnaround picked up steam following years of crises.

The company’s airplane deliveries last year were the highest since 2018, helping drive revenue. Boeing brought in $23.9 billion in the last three months of 2025, a 57% increase over the same period in 2024 and topping analysts’ expectations. Cash flow of $400 million was roughly double what Wall Street was expecting.

CEO Kelly Ortberg told staff that the company is making progress and that there’s “a lot to be optimistic about” in 2026.

“At the same time, with progress comes expectations, and our customers and stakeholders are going to expect more from us this year,” he said.

Ortberg told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau on Tuesday that the company is expecting positive free cash between $1 billion and $3 billion for 2026.

“That’ll continue to grow as we ramp up production and deal with some of these headwinds that we have to cash flow in the near term,” he said. “We’re marching to this $10 billion free cash flow number and it’s going to take us a little bit of time but we’ve got a methodical plan to get there.”

Here’s how Boeing performed in the fourth quarter, compared with analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG:

• Loss per share: $1.12 adjusted vs. a loss of 39 cents expected
• Revenue: $23.95 billion vs. $22.6 billion expected

That adjusted loss per share excludes a $9.6 billion gain on Boeing’s sale of its Jeppesen aircraft navigation unit. Boeing said that sale boosted its earnings by $11.83 per share, and stripping that out left an adjusted loss of $1.12 per share.

The company beat Wall Street estimates on its commercial airplane revenue, reporting $11.38 billion versus $10.72 billion expected, according to StreetAccount. That marked a nearly 140% increase from the year prior. Its defense unit revenue rose 37% from the fourth quarter of 2024 to $7.42 billion.

Boeing still has a long road ahead to deliver delayed aircraft — some of which haven’t yet won regulator approval — to customers around the world.

Boeing delivered 600 airplanes to customers last year, nearly double the number from 2024 and the most since 2018. Ortberg, who came out of retirement to run the manufacturer in 2024, and other executives have said more production increases are on the horizon in the coming months.

Deliveries are key for aircraft manufacturers because customers pay the bulk of an aircraft’s price when they receive it.

For Boeing, it’s a crucial ramp-up after the company has burned through roughly $40 billion since the first quarter of 2019 — when the second of two fatal crashes of the bestselling 737 Max plunged it into crisis for years — through the third quarter of 2025. The Covid-19 pandemic, residual supply chain and labor shortages, and a host of production problems have continued to hamstring the company, the largest U.S. exporter by value.

Boeing handed over 63 jetliners to customers last month, and 44 of those deliveries were 737 Maxes, the manufacturer said earlier this month.

Airbus still delivered more aircraft last year than Boeing, with 793, though that total is below the record 863 airplanes the European manufacturer handed over in 2019.

But Boeing outsold Airbus with 1,173 net orders in 2025 over its European competitor’s 889 net orders for the year. Airlines are starting to look out to the 2030s, securing delivery slots as they chart growth and replace older, more fuel-thirsty planes. Boeing counts Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines as customers in recent weeks for deliveries into the next decade.

Boeing is far from out of the woods, though. Investors will be eager to hear from the company’s leadership about what delivery pace is most realistic this year. The manufacturer still needs the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval for further Max increases beyond 42 per month, a requirement the regulator instated after a near-catastrophic midair blowout of a panel in January 2024.

Investors are likely to seek a firmer timeline for long-delayed 737 Max 7 and Max 10 certification as well as the twin-engine 777X, which will become the largest wide-body in its lineup. They are also looking for an update on Boeing’s defense business, where delays have included the two 747s that will serve as the next Air Force One aircraft.

Boeing reported fourth-quarter net income of $8.22 billion, or $10.23 a share, up from a loss $3.86 billion, or a loss of $5.46 billion, a year earlier.

Boeing executives will host an earnings conference call at 10:30 a.m. ET.

— CNBC’s Laya Neelakandan contributed to this report.