Pandemic shook up second quarter; Boeing hit hard

Aviation giant lost $2.4B, will slow production, cut thousands more jobs.

The spread of COVID-19 has skewed the numbers for every major company this year, for better or worse.

Boeing is dealing with a wave of order cancellations as travel withers. The aviation giant lost $2.4 billion in the second quarter, and the company will slow production and cut more jobs.

Boeing’s loss was far worse than Wall Street expected; so was the decline in revenue, which fell 25%. On Wednesday, the aviation giant announced deeper cuts to its commercial-aircraft and services business, with total job losses reaching 19,000 this year — 3,000 more than it said before.

Here are some noteworthy quarterly results Wednesday during one of the busiest weeks of the earnings season:

General Electric. GE is getting hammered with business travel almost nonexistent, reporting a staggering loss of about $2 billion, and revenue was cut by about a quarter. It’s slashing costs and has lowered its debt by about $9.1 billion to date for the year. Shares slid 5%.

Spotify. After a drastic plunge in usage with so many people no longer commuting to work, the music streaming service said that in-car listening at the end of the quarter was less than 10% below pre-pandemic levels. That’s up from a 50% decline at the trough in April.

General Motors. The automaker reported its first quarterly loss since it emerged from bankruptcy, but the balance-sheet damage was less than expected. The automaker said it lost 50 cents a share in the latest three-month period, compared with a consensus forecast for a loss of $1.66 per share.

Scott’s Miracle-Gro. The lawn care and gardening company said it expects a revenue surge of up to 28% this year and per-share profits to jump by about $1. It also sprinkled its investors with a special dividend of $5 per share.

Norfolk Southern. The railroad’s profit fell 46% as the railroad hauled 26% less freight during the quarter. Earnings were $1.53 per share, down from $2.70 a year ago. Still, the results beat Wall Street expectations.

Anthem. The insurer’s quarterly profit doubled to nearly $2.3 billion, as a pandemic-induced drop in claims and the creation of new pharmacy benefits management business pushed earnings past expectations.