A Boeing 737 MAX 8 for China Southern Airlines (front) is pictured at the Boeing Renton Factory in Renton, Washington on March 12, 2019.
Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images
Boeing shares fell on Thursday after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had found another software issue with the company’s grounded 737 Max aircraft.
“The FAA’s process is designed to discover and highlight potential risks. The FAA recently found a potential risk that Boeing must mitigate,” the federal regulator said in a statement on Wednesday.
Boeing shares were down by 2.1% in premarket trading Thursday. The stock had fallen as far as 6.9% from Wednesday’s close of $374.94 a share but rallied in early morning trading.
In a note to investors, Bank of America called the announcement another “software hiccup” for Boeing but “not all that surprising.”
“Given that the FAA is reviewing a complex software/hardware system in a thorough manner, we would expect to see some back and forth before a final software/hardware package is determined,” Bank of America said.
With the new delay, the best case scenario for a return to service for the 737 Max is the second week of July. But Bank of America expects to see the 737 Max grounded for 6 months to 9 months more.
– CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
