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CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Tuesday that candid remarks from Boeing‘s chairman earlier on “Squawk Box” eased some of his concerns about the embattled aircraft maker.
“A lot of my worries were put to rest,” said the “Mad Money” host, shortly after Boeing’s David Calhoun was interviewed. “I did feel better.”
Boeing has been under intense scrutiny after two of its 737 Max jets fatally crashed within five months of one another, leading to the mid-March grounding of its fleet. The ongoing global grounding has driven up costs, dented airlines’ profits, rippled throughout Boeing’s supply chain and even the broader economy.
The company is also facing a criminal investigation and several others, regarding the Federal Aviation Administration‘s certification of the plane, its design and lawsuits from the victims’ relatives.
However, Calhoun’s statements helped revive Cramer’s faith. “I am completely rooting for them and I believe they’re going to get past this.”
Shares of Boeing were up more than 1% shortly after Wall Street opened Tuesday morning.
Calhoun, a longtime Boeing board member and Blackstone executive, assured investors that a comprehensive overhaul to the company’s safety and transparency procedures would take place. He also defended CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who faced tough questions on Capitol Hill last week. Calhoun, who replaced Muilenburg as chairman last month, said, “From the vantage point of our board, Dennis has done everything right.”
Boeing in the second-quarter took a $4.9 billion after-tax charge to compensate airlines over the forced grounding, but final amounts are unknown because regulators haven’t yet lifted the grounding. Even so, Calhoun said Boeing can handle the “fair number of settlements” that it’s likely to pay.
“Every box was checked,” Cramer said. “If you don’t feel better about Boeing after this interview, I guess you just have it in for Boeing.”
Cramer was recently critical of jetmaker, ripping into Boeing last month after the leak of messages from a former test pilot expressing concern about the 737 Max, two years before the first deadly crash in October 2018.
“Wall Street got had,” Cramer had said at the time.
— CNBC’s Leslie Josephs contributed to this report.
