Airbus Braces for 249-Delivery Sprint as RBC and Jefferies Split on Valuation
Published on 11/08/2026 at 19:32 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Airbus enters the final two months of 2026 with a clear arithmetic problem: roughly 249 aircraft still need to leave its factories before the year is out. That figure, implied by the 621 handovers booked between January and October, is the gap separating the planemaker from its confirmed full-year target of around 870 deliveries — and it sat squarely at the center of investor attention on Friday.
Two brokers offered contrasting takes on the stock the same day. RBC Capital Markets reiterated an "Outperform" rating with a EUR 240 price target, while Jefferies stayed at "Hold" with a EUR 210 objective, according to media reports. The split reflects differing views on how much credit to give Airbus for a delivery schedule that has become the sector's most closely watched operational metric.
October offered a mixed signal. Airbus handed over 74 aircraft during the month, short of the 77 Jefferies had penciled in and below the 78 recorded a year earlier, Reuters reported. Those 74 jets went to 45 customers. Yet the cumulative picture remains ahead of 2025: the ten-month tally of 621 represents a 6.2% increase year on year.
Order intake added ballast. Gross bookings reached 202 aircraft in October, lifting net orders since the start of the year to 1,305.
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Nine-Month Figures Set the Valuation Frame
The financial backdrop came into sharper focus with the 28 October release, when Airbus reported revenue of EUR 50.6 billion for the first nine months of 2026, up 7% from a year earlier. Adjusted operating profit reached EUR 4.5 billion, and net income climbed 36% to EUR 3.59 billion.
Management used the same occasion to reaffirm the full-year outlook: around 870 deliveries, an adjusted operating result of roughly EUR 7.5 billion, and free cash flow before customer financing of about EUR 4.5 billion. Production-rate targets were also confirmed.
A Trade-Policy Cloud From Washington
Separately, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer flagged risks to transatlantic trade harmony over aircraft financing on 26 October, pointing to what he described as insufficient information about a European Investment Bank credit extended to Airbus. The planemaker responded that the facility is ordinary corporate financing and that it is in contact with the relevant authorities, Reuters reported. The European Commission, meanwhile, disputed Greer's characterization, according to media accounts.
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Greer said the information gap created uncertainty around the US-EU understanding on financing for large civil aircraft. His warning touches the trade-policy framework governing such loans; it carried no change to Airbus's guidance.
What is weighing on the share price, media reports suggest, is the pace of deliveries required in November and December — combined with persistent bottlenecks in engine supply. Whether RBC's EUR 240 target or Jefferies' more cautious EUR 210 stance proves closer to the mark may depend less on orders than on how quickly those 249 aircraft can be signed off and handed to customers.
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