Bombardier sees higher 2026 revenues but faces U.S. trade risks

By Allison Lampert and Aatreyee Dasgupta

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Bombardier BBDb.TO said on Thursday it expected to generate higher revenues and deliver more private jets in 2026 after reporting quarterly earnings per share ahead of analysts’ estimates.

Montreal-based Bombardier is forecasting more than $10 billion in revenue and free cash flow between $600 million and $1 billion this year, along with the delivery of more than 157 planes.

The company has benefited from strong demand from affluent buyers as well as tariff-free delivery of its aircraft to the U.S., the world's largest market for private aviation, under the United States-Mexico-Canada trade deal, despite threats of U.S.–Canada trade friction.

"We foresee the risk as being low for us and that we're going to be able to navigate through," CEO Eric Martel told reporters.

Strong demand has helped Bombardier deliver on its turnaround plan, Martel said, after the company nearly went bankrupt about a decade ago while bleeding cash by trying to bring multiple planes to market at the same time.

While Bombardier has made progress in tackling industry-wide supply chain disruptions, the company's manufacturing ambitions still face pressure from one enginemaker, that has cost it millions of dollars, Martel said.

TURNAROUND PLAN

Martel told reporters that the challenges relate mostly to the enginemaker's own supply base that weighed on their production deliveries to Bombardier for a certain period in 2025. This halted Bombardier's own assembly line for weeks last year.

"It's been brutal for us and we've been navigating through this," he said. "I think their intention right now is to get this under control as soon as possible."

Martel said Bombardier was able to deliver the planes they wanted to deliver but "there could have been an opportunity to do even better."

In the fourth quarter, Bombardier delivered 64 jets, compared with 57 planes a year ago, driving revenue up almost 19% to $3.69 billion.

On an adjusted basis, it posted a quarterly profit of $4.80 per share, compared with $3.01 a year earlier. Analysts, on average, had estimated a profit of $3.40 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Free cash flow, a metric closely watched for planemakers, rose to $1.07 billion in 2025 from $840 million in 2024.

The company faces tariff risks, as the USMCA agreement, which U.S. President Donald Trump recently called "irrelevant" for the U.S., is set to be reviewed later this year.

Earlier this year, Trump also threatened to decertify Bombardier's large cabin Global jets and slap 50% import tariffs on all Canadian-made aircraft until the country's regulator certified a number of planes produced by U.S. rival Gulfstream.

The head of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday that he expects the issue will be resolved soon, with Transport Canada set to certify Gulfstream jets.

Martel told reporters he doesn't see any evidence of rival Gulfstream trying to weaponize U.S. trade policy against Bombardier.