Airbus Shares Gain With 560-Plane Target in Sight at End of 2020

(Bloomberg) -- Airbus SE shares jumped on the year’s first trading day after the European planemaker closed in on 560 aircraft deliveries for 2020, despite the impact of the coronavirus.

Shares in the Toulouse, France-based company advanced as much as 4.4%, the biggest intraday gain in more than a week. Bloomberg reported Saturday that Airbus was nearing the top end of its internal target, with the final audited tally of deliveries due for release later this week.

The 2020 total will be well short of the record 863 aircraft the company handed over to customers in 2019, but would still help bolster Airbus’s coffers in a year which has seen widespread groundings wipe out demand for travel.

Reaching 560 deliveries would be “likely ahead of buyside expectations,” Morgan Stanley analysts Andrew Humphrey and Joseph Ayoola wrote in a note on Monday.

Airbus shares were up 3.1% as of 9:30 a.m. in Paris. They slid 31% last year.

Airbus abandoned its formal target of 880 deliveries for 2020 back in March, as the coronavirus began to have a significant impact on its airline customers. The company embarked on a sustained push to increase handovers in recent months, through incentives such as an e-delivery option allowing customers to delegate some essential checks to the manufacturer.

An Airbus spokesman declined to comment ahead of the publication of audited figures.

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