“Mad Money” host Jim Cramer has high praise for Boeing’s (BA) newest CEO, Kelly Ortberg.
“Most underrated CEO in the US,” Cramer told Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi in a new episode of the Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast (video above; listen below).
Ortberg has a longstanding tenure in the defense and aerospace sectors. Prior to his appointment at troubled Boeing in August 2024, he was president and CEO of Rockwell Collins. This past summer, he wrapped up his first year at the controls with Boeing, following his predecessors, who had faced uphill battles.
In 2019, then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg was ceremoniously fired following the crashes of two of the company’s 737 Max 8 planes. His successor, former GE (GE) exec Dave Calhoun, saw issues plague the company in droves, including an Alaska Airlines (ALK) door blowout, an FAA grounding of all 737 Max 9 planes, a cockpit window crack, an engine part detaching from a plane, and a nose and wheel falling off.
Boeing also faced a 53-day machinist strike, followed by layoffs and job cuts. Net losses reached $11.8 billion in 2024, the second-worst in the company’s history.
Ortberg had to settle into the top post amid that turbulent backdrop. He has sought to improve Boeing’s quality inspection processes, manage costs, and get into the good graces of President Trump. The company has begun to ink new deals for its planes, notably with Korean Air, Turkish Airlines, and Qatar.
Boeing stock is up 22% year to date. The company’s first-half sales rose 26% year over year to $42.2 billion. The non-GAAP operating loss shrank to $234 million from $1.78 billion a year earlier.
The slow turnaround at Boeing has caught Cramer’s attention.
On Oct. 2, Insider Monkey’s Ramish Cheema reported that Cramer claimed his charitable trust was buying Boeing’s stock “hand over fist over the last two weeks.”
As for Ortberg’s leadership style that is driving better performance, Cramer candidly told Sozzi, “[The turnaround for Boeing looks like] living on the factory floor.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the planes involved in the 2018 and 2019 crashes were Boeing 737 Max 9s. They were in fact the 737 Max 8 model. We regret the error.
Grace Williams is a writer for Yahoo Finance.
Each week, Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi fields insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid Unfiltered. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service.
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