Airbus Posts Record Deliveries as Order Book Hits Historic High
Published on 08/06/2026 at 07:13 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Airbus has emerged from a sluggish start to 2026 with momentum that few rivals can match, delivering 237 commercial aircraft in the second quarter alone — a company record that more than compensated for the production bottlenecks that hampered the early months of the year.
The Toulouse-based manufacturer published its half-year results on July 29, revealing group revenue of €33.2 billion, a 12 percent improvement year-on-year, while adjusted EBIT climbed 24 percent to €2.7 billion. The delivery surge in the April-to-June period demonstrated that the group had largely resolved the ramp-up difficulties that had weighed on output earlier in the year.
Order Book Provides Multi-Year Visibility
Demand for Airbus jets shows no sign of cooling. Net orders reached 821 aircraft in the first half, or 886 before cancellations, lifting the total backlog to 9,222 units as of June 30. That pipeline effectively guarantees high factory utilization for years to come, a factor that has underpinned recent share price strength.
The stock closed Wednesday at €213.80, sitting just 3.37 percent below its 52-week high of €221.25, which was touched on January 13. The shares have gained 8.24 percent since the start of the year, a steady if unspectacular performance given the operational progress the company has reported.
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Cash Flow Dip Framed as Transitional
The one blemish on the half-year scorecard was free cash flow before customer financing, which came in at minus €1.2 billion. Reuters attributed the shortfall to a deliberate build-up of inventory intended to cushion the planned production acceleration in the second half. Management stuck to its full-year guidance on July 29, reaffirming targets of roughly 870 aircraft deliveries, adjusted EBIT of around €7.5 billion, and free cash flow before customer financing of approximately €4.5 billion. Those figures imply a sharp reversal of the cash flow trend in the coming months — a clear signal of how aggressively the delivery tempo is expected to pick up.
The company had already laid out its longer-term ambitions on July 21, unveiling a medium-term outlook that targets adjusted EBIT of €12 billion to €13 billion by 2029. That same day, the board approved a €5 billion share buyback program to be executed over three years. At the end of June, Airbus had 792,283,683 ordinary shares issued, of which 803,194 were held as treasury stock — the base on which the repurchase program will operate.
Analysts Race to Raise Targets
Wall Street responded favorably to the numbers, with several houses lifting their price targets in the days that followed. Barclays reaffirmed its buy recommendation on August 3 with a target of €260, the highest among major banks. RBC Capital raised its target from €225 to €250 on July 30, maintaining an "Outperform" rating. JPMorgan nudged its target up from €240 to €245 on the day of the results, while Deutsche Bank moved from €226 to €232, citing the surprise announcement of the buyback program as a key driver. Bernstein Research and Berenberg also adjusted their targets upward, though Berenberg remained at "Hold" despite increasing its target to €210. Jefferies held its "Hold" rating with a €200 target on results day. The range of targets now spans €200 to €260, with the majority of institutions either confirming or upgrading their stance.
Defense, Space, and Supply Chain Moves
Beyond the commercial aircraft business, Airbus has been reinforcing its position in defense and space. Late July brought the contract award for the SpainSat NG-III secure communications satellite, and the company delivered the first NH90 helicopter configured for special operations to the French defense ministry.
The supply chain around Airbus continues to shift as well. On August 5, Sogeclair announced an agreement with Akkodis to sell its Airbus-focused engineering activities, a deal expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, the integration of industrial assets acquired from Spirit AeroSystems in Belfast, Casablanca, Kinston, Prestwick, and Saint-Nazaire — completed in December 2025 — is proceeding according to plan, though it generated €123 million in additional costs during the first half.
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The order pipeline also received fresh support at the Farnborough International Airshow in July, where Airbus booked a firm order from SMBC Aviation Capital for 100 A320neo-family aircraft and an upsized commitment from Riyadh Air for six additional A350-1000 long-haul jets. Operational activity among customers remains lively, with Qatar Airways resuming daily nonstop service between Doha and Philadelphia using an A350-900 — the airline's 14th North American destination.
Airbus will publish its nine-month results on October 29.
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