New York, February 9, 2026, 14:12 EST — Regular session
- Boeing tacked on roughly 0.4% in afternoon trade, with the move coming after the company disclosed a U.S. Air Force contract for C-17A flight deck upgrades.
- Boeing tapped supplier Curtiss‑Wright for mission computers in its C‑17 upgrade, a deal Curtiss‑Wright says is worth over $400 million.
- Eyes are on the U.S. jobs numbers set for Feb. 11, and CPI hitting Feb. 13—both data points with the potential to move industrial stocks as traders hunt for rate signals.
Boeing shares ticked up Monday after the company landed a U.S. Air Force deal to upgrade the C‑17A Globemaster III’s flight deck. By early afternoon in New York, Boeing (BA) was trading around $243.98, up roughly 0.4%.
It’s a minor shift, yet attention swings again to Boeing’s defense and services division—right as investors are still pushing for more reliable cash flow and tighter operations. Sometimes, a contract supporting long-term fleet maintenance does more for sentiment than anything the daily share price might show.
Boeing’s daily valuation rarely hinges on defense, but those contracts do steady the numbers when commercial shipments falter. Plus, the military work keeps production lines humming and suppliers working—these programs aren’t tied to airline demand or funding cycles.
Boeing says the Air Force contract will pay for designing, building and certifying an upgraded C‑17A flight deck, swapping out dated avionics for what the company describes as modular open systems architecture—a setup intended to smooth out future upgrades. “With the U.S. Air Force requirement to keep the C-17A viable through 2075, we already have a clear and achievable roadmap,” said Travis Williams, Boeing’s vice president for Air Force mobility and training services. According to Boeing, it delivered 275 C‑17A planes from 1993 to 2015. The company didn’t reveal how much the contract is worth. 1
Boeing’s Long Beach, California operation landed a $266.6 million contract for a C‑17A flight deck replacement, the Pentagon disclosed Dec. 19. Work stretches out to Nov. 30, 2031, with tasks split among Long Beach; Warner Robins, Georgia; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, according to the release. 2
Boeing picked Curtiss‑Wright to supply mission computers for the Air Force’s C‑17 Flight Deck Obsolescence and Technology Refresh, according to Curtiss‑Wright. The company says the deal could top $400 million over its lifetime. “By delivering rugged, modular mission computing technology, we are supporting the long-term readiness of the C-17,” CEO Lynn M. Bamford said. 3
For stockholders, defense news arrives with bigger worries in play: Boeing’s fate mostly rides on its ability to ramp up commercial production and sidestep new quality crises. One contract win? Helpful, but a hiccup in manufacturing speed, a supplier issue, or a regulatory snag can wipe that out fast.
Timing’s another wildcard. As requirements shift, government modernization efforts have a way of dragging on, and upgrades bogged down by certification can get delayed, sending revenue and margins out of alignment.
This time, Boeing might take a back seat. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics calendar, January’s employment numbers drop Wednesday, Feb. 11, with the consumer price index following on Friday the 13th—both releases set for 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The agency also warned that those dates could shift if there’s a government service interruption. 4
If the reports end up shifting rate expectations, Boeing shares might track the action across industrials. Fresh timing or scope details on the C‑17 upgrade—from either Boeing or the Air Force—will be closely eyed, too.
