Spirit Announces Q3 2017 Earnings Results

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. reported third-quarter 2017 financial results driven by solid operating performance.

“This quarter is representative of the reliable results we’ve been working hard to deliver consistently over the last few years,” Spirit President and CEO Tom Gentile said. “There is great momentum here at Spirit with the projected industry growth, planned rate increases and stable relationships with Boeing and Airbus.”

Revenue

Spirit’s third quarter 2017 revenue was $1.7 billion, up slightly from the same period of 2016, primarily driven by higher production deliveries on the Boeing 737 and 787 programs and increased defense-related activity, partially offset by lower production deliveries on the Boeing 777 program and decreased Global Customer Support & Services (GCS&S) activity.

Spirit’s backlog at the end of the third quarter of 2017 was approximately $45 billion, with work packages on all commercial platforms in the Boeing and Airbus backlog.

Earnings

Operating income for the third quarter of 2017 was $211 million, down slightly compared to $214 million in the same period of 2016, primarily due to lower production deliveries on the Boeing 777 program and lower GCS&S activity, partially offset by increased sales on the Airbus A320 and higher recurring and non-recurring activity on the Boeing 737 program. Third quarter EPS was $1.26 per share, up 9 percent compared to $1.16 in the same period of 2016.

Cash

Cash from operations in the third quarter of 2017 was $291 million, up 9 percent compared to $266 million in the same quarter last year. Free cash flow* in the third quarter of 2017 was $240 million, up 12 percent compared to free cash flow of $214 million in the same quarter last year.

Cash balance at the end of the quarter was $727 million. The company’s $650 million revolving credit facility remained undrawn at the end of the quarter.

During the third quarter, Spirit repurchased 2.7 million shares for $194 million. “With the shares repurchased this quarter, we have $598 million remaining on our repurchase authorization,” Gentile said.