Airbus weighs an extended A220 as deliveries and strategy lift the stock
Published on 07/17/2026 at 06:05 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Airbus is heading into a busy fortnight with more than one story in play. Investors are watching whether the planemaker can keep up its delivery momentum, while in Canada the company is also exploring what could become the next version of its A220 regional jet.
On 16 July, several brokerages lifted their view on Airbus after a sharply stronger second quarter. RBC Capital raised its price target from 200 to 215 euro and kept an Outperform rating, pointing to 237 aircraft delivered in the three months to June, up 39 percent from the same period a year earlier. Banco BTG Pactual initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a 240 euro target, while JP Morgan also has an Overweight stance. The analyst consensus now stands at 215.88 euro, with estimates ranging from 175 to 258 euro.
That delivery figure matters for more than sentiment. Airbus is targeting around 870 deliveries in 2026, which means 519 more aircraft still need to leave the factory in the second half. The next key milestones are the Farnborough Airshow on 21 July and the group’s half-year results on 29 July.
The quarter’s output was led by the narrow-body family: 25 A220s, 190 A320s, seven A330s and 15 A350s. RBC said the pace supports expectations for strong free cash flow and a solid adjusted operating result.
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At the same time, Airbus is trying to widen its product options. Reports dated 15 July 2026 said the Canadian province of Quebec is open to working with Airbus on a stretched version of the A220. No technical specification has been disclosed, but a longer fuselage would normally mean either more seats, more range or both. For airlines, that could open the door to serving larger markets or new routes more efficiently.
Quebec is a natural partner in the programme. The aircraft is built in Canada, and the province was involved in the original Bombardier CSeries project before Airbus took it over. Airbus is already planning to lift A220 production to 13 aircraft a month by 2028, and the company delivered 19 of the type in the first quarter of 2026.
The A220 programme is also easing one of Airbus’s operational headaches. Airbus Canada and Pratt & Whitney expect that by the end of 2026 no A220s will remain grounded because of engine issues. At present, only two to three percent of the fleet is affected, and the PW1500G’s reliability is said to be moving closer to the level seen in the A320 family.
That matters because the A320 line is still dealing with a separate bottleneck. A shortage of Pratt & Whitney engines is slowing the ramp-up of the A320 family in 2026 and 2027, even though Airbus remains committed to its production expansion plans. A more diverse portfolio would help reduce dependence on a single aircraft platform.
Airbus’s stock reflected the broader mix of good news and unresolved execution issues. The shares closed on Thursday at 48.40 euro. That leaves them about 12 percent below the 52-week high of 55.00 euro reached on 12 January 2026, but more than 26 percent above the year’s low of 38.40 euro in March. The stock is up 5.68 percent over the past 30 days and modestly lower for the year. It also sits a little more than 6 percent above its 50-day average of 45.52 euro.
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Beyond commercial aviation, Airbus has been active on several other fronts. It signed a multi-year cloud deal with Scaleway, the Iliad subsidiary, to host sensitive workloads and data in a sovereign European infrastructure. By the end of 2028, 70 critical applications are due to be migrated, with as many as 900 potentially moved over five to six years. Catherine Jestin, Airbus EVP Digital, said the aim is to protect data from extraterritorial legislation.
There has also been movement in orders and defence. Flynas is considering converting options on eight A330neo aircraft into firm orders, while Condor is weighing six additional A330-900s. In defence, the first Eurofighter from Tranche 4, named Quadriga, completed its maiden flight on 14 July, and Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding with Northrop Grumman on the MQ-4C Triton drone.
Airbus’s footprint in Canada is also commercially significant. Between 2023 and 2025, its activities there contributed 8.4 billion US dollars to economic output and supported almost 60,000 jobs, according to the company.
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