High interest rates could slow orders

Article Excerpt

BOMBARDIER INC. is a hold. The company (Toronto symbols BBD.A $56 and BBD.B $55; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 95.3 million; Market cap: $5.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend suspended in February 2015; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.bombardier.com) delivered 22 business jets in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, up from 21 a year earlier. That’s mainly why revenue rose 16.6%, to $1.45 billion from $1.25 billion (all amounts except share prices and market cap in U.S. dollars). As well, revenue from servicing jets improved 17.5%. If you exclude unusual items, Bombardier earned $1.06 a share (or a total of $113 million). That’s a big improvement over its year-earlier loss of $0.80 a share (or $69 million). Investors should expect the company to deliver 138 planes in 2023, up from 123 in 2022. However, rising interest rates and a slowing global economy could hurt orders for new planes. Moreover, the company’s long-term debt of $5.58 billion is a high 1.4 times its market cap. Bombardier is…