Investing.com — Stocks in Boeing Co (NYSE:) were marginally lower in early U.S. trading on Tuesday after Bloomberg News reported that the aerospace giant is considering potentially raising at least $10 billion from the sale of new shares.
Citing people familiar with the discussions, Bloomberg said the company is working on its options with its advisers.
However, Boeing is unlikely to implement the stock increase for at least a month, Bloomberg reports. It added that Boeing, which is facing a strike involving 33,000 workers in the US Pacific Northwest, would like to understand the financial impact of the strike.
No final decision has yet to be made on the timing or amount, and Boeing could still ultimately choose not to proceed with the fundraising, the report said.
The size of the possible move reported by Bloomberg would be the largest made by a publicly traded company since a $12.3 billion stock sale by Bloomberg. Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:) in June.
Workers – now on strike for a third week – have rejected two pay proposals from Boeing, extending industrial action and putting further pressure on the planemaker’s finances and production at a time when its record is already being intensively scrutinized in the field of safety. Boeing’s credit rating also hovers around junk status, Reuters reported.
Boeing Chief Financial Officer Brian West has warned that the work stoppage could also shrink the company’s supply chain.
Last week, Boeing said it had proposed a softer deal to workers that would include a 30% across-the-board pay increase over four years and an improvement in pension benefits. Boeing said this was its “best and final” offer.
However, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751, which represents the workers, rejected the approach, saying Boeing had “thrown it at us” without prior negotiations.
A mediator has been called in to help break the impasse, Bloomberg reports.
