By Abhijith Ganapavaram and Utkarsh Shetti
(Reuters) – Boeing (NYSE: ) began to shore up its faltering finances on Tuesday, announcing plans to raise $25 billion in stock and debt and a $10 billion debt settlement with major lenders amid a manufacturing and regulatory crisis.
It was unclear when and how much the plane maker would eventually raise through the offering, but analysts estimated Boeing would need to raise somewhere between $10 billion and $15 billion to maintain its debt ratings, which are now just above junk. .
The company is facing a slowdown in production of its best-selling 737 MAX plane following the explosion of a mid-air door panel earlier this year and a strike by thousands of union workers since September. 13.
Boeing said on Tuesday that it had not used the new $10 billion in debt arranged by BofA, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, or its revolving credit facility.
“These are two logical steps to support the company’s access to costs,” Boeing said, adding that the debt agreement provides additional short-term access to liquidity as it navigates a “challenging environment”.
The plane maker added that the shelf listing, part of which Boeing can sell stock and debt, will provide options to shore up its balance sheet over a three-year period.
Boeing shares were slightly higher on Tuesday.
“We take the ambiguity and scope of the shelf announcement and the need for short-term funding to mean that banks are struggling to sell the issue to potential investors or lenders,” said Agency Partners analyst Nick Cunningham.
The offering was either too big for immediate liquidity needs or not big enough to permanently rebuild the company, Cunningham noted, adding that it could mean short-term liquidity is worse than expected.
Cunningham suspended his recommendation and his price on Boeing shares, adding that comments by Emirates Airlines President Tim Clark on Monday were “concerning”.
“Unless the company (Boeing) is able to raise capital through a rights issue, I see an imminent decline in investment as Chapter 11 approaches,” Clark told Air Current, an airline industry publication.
Boeing will use the funds for general business purposes, according to filings with the U.S. securities regulator on Tuesday. The aircraft maker had cash and cash equivalents of $10.89 billion as of June 30.
Strike costs
The strike is costing the company more than $1 billion a month, according to estimates released before Boeing announced it would cut 17,000 jobs, or 10% of its global workforce.
The company and the Machinists union, which represents about 33,000 striking workers in the US Pacific Northwest, have not reached an agreement on a new contract and negotiations have been heated.
US Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su met with Boeing and the union in Seattle on Monday in an effort to end the deadline.
The plane maker was already reeling from a production control freeze on its MAX jets after a mid-air panel exploded in January.
Last month, Chief Financial Officer Brian West said at a Morgan Stanley conference that the company “constantly analyzes our capital structure and liquidity levels to ensure that we can meet our debt maturities over the next 18 months while remaining confident in our investment grade.”
Boeing has $11.5 billion in debt as of Feb. 1, 2026, and has committed to issuing $4.7 billion of its own stock to acquire Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE: ) and assume its debt.
Reuters reported earlier this month that Boeing was exploring ways to raise billions of dollars through the sale of stock and securities such as equity.
Boeing delivered 33 jets in September, down from 40 in August, as it moves ahead in a delivery race with rival Airbus.
