Boeing’s 10% drop since Trump’s election win ‘feels overblown,’ Jefferies analyst says

Boeing (NYSE:BA) closed +1.5% on Friday, but the stock’s nearly 10% decline since Election Day from fears over U.S.-China trade relations in a new Trump administration “feels overblown,” Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu says in maintaining her Buy rating and $200 price target.

China accounts for just 2% of Boeing’s (BA) current backlog compared to 23% of its 2012-18 deliveries, but the stock’s sharp drop suggests renewed fears that the company will again get “caught up in U.S.-China trade relations as Trump readies tariffs,” Kahyaoglu writes.

Investors worry about Trump’s proposed 10%-20% border tariffs and 60% China goods tariffs that could revive a U.S.-China trade war with Boeing (BA) used as a chess piece, but the analyst says the biggest challenge for China is limited domestic production through COMAC.

Separately, Boeing (BA) said Friday it is adding former Vanguard Group Chairman and CEO Tim Buckley to its board beginning January 1, becoming its first new director since Steve Mollenkopf took over as chairman earlier this year.

Buckley is the 10th director recruited to the board since 2019; only one Boeing (BA) director – Amgen CEO Robert Bradway – predates the 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Boeing (BA) still has two board openings for seats previously held by former chairman Larry Kellner seat and former CEO Dave Calhoun.