Argus analyst John Eade raised his price target on United Technologies (UTX) to $170 and kept his Buy rating after its Q4 earnings beat. The analyst notes that the company should get a boost from increased defense spending in the near term and also benefit from expanding middle class in the developing markets over the longer term, though he sees its exposure to Boeing's (BA) 737 MAX production as a challenge. Eade adds that earnings should benefit from the Rockwell Collins acquisition and the planned Raytheon (RTN) merger over the medium term.

Says majority of Boeing (BA) capacity cuts expected to take place early in the year.

American CFO Devon May said on the company's Q1 call: "Aircraft delivery delays are impacting the entire industry, but they are not having the same impact on American as other carriers since we are not as dependent on new aircraft deliveries as most of our peers. We have modest aircraft CapEx requirements this decade due to our previous refleeting efforts. We now expect our 2024 aircraft CapEx to be approximately $2.2B, our total CapEx to be approximately $3.1B. We continue to expect aircraft CapEx to be approximately $3B to $3.5B per year from 2025 through 2030."

Citi lowered the firm's price target on Boeing to $224 from $252 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The company's Q1 results were better than expected, but "it's clear there is much left to do," the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm believes Boeing "will come through this healthier than before." This should position it well to take advantage of its duopoly position in commercial aerospace at a time when backlogs stretch out for roughly a decade and customers are clamoring for new aircraft, contends Citi.