Boeing Co's quarterly profit beat expectations as operating margins improved and it contained costs, sending shares of the company higher. The world's largest aerospace and defence company also raised its 2011 earnings forecast, but the range it gave was still slightly below the average Wall Street estimate.
"Everybody is surprised by the size of the beat, but if you go through it, it's just cost containment and cost improvement," said Alex Hamilton, managing director of EarlyBirdCapital. He noted an operating margin of 9.3 percent, compared with 8.4 percent a year ago.
Boeing second-quarter profit was $941 million, or $1.25 per share, compared with $787 million, or $1.06 per share, a year earlier. The results topped a Wall Street consensus forecast for a profit of 97 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 6 percent to $16.5 billion. Boeing also said it raised its 2011 earnings-per-share forecast to a range of $3.90 to $4.10 from a previous forecast of $3.80 to $4.