Boeing Shares Recovering After Reports of Pending Software Upgrade for Troubled Planes
Boeing shares were back on the rise Friday after reports from Agence France Press said the plane manufacturer in 10 days would make a software upgrade available for its 737 Max aircraft.
While Boeing shares on the New York Stock Exchange were up 1.9% early Friday afternoon, the gains were described by CNBC as “limited” since the news outlet said Boeing told them the timeline for a software upgrade had not changed.
Boeing earlier said it could take between three and six months to fix and install the software update, in response to the latest 737 Max fatal crash Sunday in Ethiopia. The repairs could cost Boeing at least $500 million.
Boeing’s stocks fell more than 11% this week after several countries grounded the 737 Max planes over safety concerns after the Ethiopian Airlines plane plummeted, killing all 157 people aboard. The crash was the second for the aircraft model in six months. A Lion Air flight in October crashed into the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia, killing 189 people.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday grounded all of Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft in the U.S. After Sunday’s fatal accident, the planes were grounded in the European Union and several other countries, including temporary bans in Hong Kong, Lebanon, and Thailand.
Fortune has contacted Boeing for comment.