What’s going on?

• Airbus (French aircraft manufacturer) reported better-than-expected earnings, but could still only see the pandemic coming.

What does that mean?

• Good news: Airbus delivered more aircraft than analysts expected last quarter, meaning that Airbus ended up getting more cash than it expected.
• Bad news: the pandemic is still damaging Airbus’s profits, and the company is bracing itself for even more uncertainty. That might be why it’s only expecting to deliver as many aircrafts in 2021 as it did in 2020 at 40% below its peak.
• Investors then sent its stock down.

Why should I care?

For markets: “At least you are better than him”

• At least Airbus company is doing better than Boeing: delivering more planes last year and taking more new plane orders this year, showing it deserves the ‘world’s biggest aircraft manufacturer’ title that it took from Boeing in 2019.
• Meanwhile, Boeing’s been taking cancellations with continuing trouble from its 737 Max. 

The bigger picture: Japan’s stocks on the rise

• Airbus is betting environmental concerns will be more important than ever when recovering from the pandemic-induced fall. So it’s been increasing investments in climate-friendly airplanes, and even revealed 3 concepts for the world’s first hydrogen-fueled, zero-emission commercial aircrafts that could fly by 2035.
• Boeing’s recently also committed to delivering planes that can fly on 100% sustainable fuels by 2030, despite the fact that it’ll only lower emissions by 80%. 

Content source: Finimize (2021) Despairbus. Available at: https://www.finimize.com/wp/news/despairbus/ [Accessed on February 21, 2021]