Boeing (BA) +4.1% in Friday’s trading, making it the top gainer on the Dow Jones average, following a Bloomberg report that the company is closing in on one of the largest sales in its history, an order for 500 737 MAX jets to be announced when President Trump travels to Beijing at the end of this month.
The U.S. and China also are in talks for a widebody sale that includes ~100 787 Dreamliner and 777X jets, which likely would be announced at a later date and not part of the upcoming summit meeting, according to the report.
The two sides are still negotiating the specifics of the announcement, with the U.S. seeking a firm commitment and not just a headline-grabbing dollar value, the report said.
China once made up ~25% of Boeing’s (BA) order book, but the company now has only 134 unfilled orders from Chinese airlines, or ~2% of its order book.
Trump plans to visit China from March 31 to April 2 for the meeting, his first state visit to China since 2017, and Xi is expected to visit Washington later in the year.