

The first of these is the Commercial Airplanes segment. Right now, the company has four different operating segments. But a quick refresher it's not necessarily a bad idea. The overwhelming majority of people, including those who don't invest, likely know Boeing and what it does. Because of this, I've decided to rate to the business a ‘hold’. Even though the picture for the company is improving from a fundamental perspective, I would argue that the stock is, at best, likely to be fairly valued once it works out all of its pain points. But this doesn't necessarily translate into a bullish outlook from an investment return perspective. In fact, absent anything else coming out of the woodwork, I would argue that the next five years for the company will likely be healthier than the last five years were. In that sense, I do see the picture for the company getting better. Ultimately, these improvements should help the company generate even more value for its shareholders.

After all, the firm is showing some really positive signs of improvement.

To many investors, such underperformance over such a long period of time may be a sign that the company is a lost cause. Over the past decade, the S&P 500 is up 347.5% compared to the 141.8% seen by this aviation behemoth. Over the same window of time, shares of Boeing have dropped 34.2%, with reinvested distributions included into the mix. That's even dealing with significant amounts of economic uncertainty, geopolitical challenges such as war, and COVID-19. To put this in perspective, over the past five years, the S&P 500 has appreciated by 61.4%. Even though the company operates in a space that should always see growing demand in the long run, the past few years have been downright painful for the business and its shareholders. One of the most well-known companies on the planet is aviation giant Boeing ( NYSE: BA).
