Boeing Co. Wednesday said quarterly earnings more than doubled, boosted by a one-time gain from the sale of its rocket engine unit, even as revenue at its key defense unit fell.
The world’s No. 2 commercial jetmaker said its third-quarter earnings rose to $1.01 billion, or $1.26 cents a share, from $456 million, or 56 cents, a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts had forecast that the earnings would rise to 78 cents before exceptional items, according to Reuters Estimates.
Without a 62 cents-a-share benefit from tax settlements and adjustments, the quarterly earnings per share would have been 64 cents.
The results also included a 45 cents-per-share gain on the sale of propulsion unit Rocketdyne and a noncash charge of 14 cents a share related to another asset sale.
Revenue fell 4 percent to $12.63 billion, depressed by an 11 percent slide in its defense unit’s sales, which Boeing said were hit by the sale of Rocketdyne and a less profitable mix of aircraft deliveries.
Boeing and its European archrival Airbus — the No. 1 jetmaker — have enjoyed a surge in orders this year from fast-growing airlines in India, China and the Middle East. But Boeing has already said a one-month strike at its commercial factories depressed deliveries in the quarter.
Looking forward, Boeing raised its earnings per share outlook for the full year to between $2.95 and $3.05 a share, and boosted its 2006 forecast to $3.10 to $3.30 a share.
Boeing shares have edged up 1.5 percent since the end of the second quarter, outperforming the Amex Defense index , which is down 1.5 percent for the period.