Boeing 2016 earnings forecast misses estimates, shares drop

Company expects 2016 core earnings to be between $8.15 and $8.35 per share

Boeing Co forecast lower-than-estimated 2016 core earnings, and said it expected to deliver fewer commercial planes this year, sending its shares down 3.9% in premarket trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average component said it expects to deliver 740-745 planes in 2016, its centenary year.

Boeing delivered 762 jetliners in 2015, exceeding its target of 755 to 760 planes.

The company said it expects 2016 core earnings, which exclude some pension and other costs, to be between $8.15 and $8.35 per share.

Analysts on average were expecting $9.43 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The world's largest jetliner maker's net income fell to $1.03 billion, or $1.51 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $1.47 billion, or $2.02 per share, a year earlier.

Core earnings fell to $1.60 per share from $2.31.

The company said last week it would cut production of its 747-8 jumbo jet in half and take a $569 million charge in the fourth quarter.

Revenue fell about 4% to $23.57 billion.