SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. aerospace giant Boeing Company on Wednesday reported a record annual revenue of 101.1billion U.S. dollars as its revenue for the fourth quarter of 2018 beat analysts' estimates to top 28.3 billion dollars.
This was the first time that the company's annual revenue broke the 100-billion-dollar mark, up from 94 billion dollars in 2017.
Boeing reported the fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share of 5.48 dollars, and its shares surged 5.8 percent in early trading on Wednesday.
The U.S. top aircraft manufacturer earned a net profit of 3.4 billion dollars for the fourth quarter, growing 3 percent from the net earnings of 3.3 billion dollars posted in the same quarter of 2017.
Boeing's net profit for the full year of 2018 topped 10.5 billion dollars, up 24 percent from about 8.5 billion dollars over 2017.
Boeing attributed the robust fourth quarter revenue to record commercial deliveries, higher defense and services volume and strong performance, which outweighed favorable tax impacts recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.
The full-year revenue for 2018 reflects "higher commercial deliveries and increased volume across the company," Boeing said in its report on the fourth quarter financial results in 2018.
The company posted a record operating cash flow of 15.3 billion dollars in 2018, a rise of 15 percent from the previous year, while its total backlog remains robust at 490 billion dollars, including nearly 5,900 commercial airplanes.
"Across the enterprise our team delivered strong core operating performance and customer focus, driving record revenues, earnings and cash flow and further extending our global aerospace industry leadership in 2018," said Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg.
Boeing expects its revenue for 2019 to stand between 109.5 billion and 111.5 billion dollars with its core earnings per share hitting from 19.9 dollars to 20.10 dollars.
