You’ve probably read some not-so-great news about Boeing (BA 0.93%) in the past year or two. There have been product quality issues, such as when a panel of an airplane blew out midflight in early 2024. That led to the grounding of some 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes.

The company got hit with multiple lawsuits. The Federal Aviation Administration investigated Boeing and found multiple insufficient safety procedures. There’s been turnover in upper management, too, and disappointing earnings reports.

Image source: Getty Images.

In fact, Boeing has not even been posting profits lately. And a strike at the company is likely to leave it less profitable. Ouch!

If you’re feeling relieved that you haven’t been a recent Boeing shareholder, I can’t blame you — because if you’d parked, say, $10,000 in Boeing five years ago, you’d now have an investment worth $5,340 or so. That’s a total drop of nearly 47% and an average annual decline of about 12%.

We often advise our readers that a simple low-fee index fund, such as one that tracks the S&P 500, can be all you need to amass a hefty war chest for retirement — and an S&P 500 index fund would have served investors much better than Boeing stock over the past five years. The S&P 500 nearly doubled in these past five years, averaging annual gains of about 14.5%.

But maybe you’re thinking of investing in Boeing now — when it may seem attractively priced due to its decline. Or maybe you are a Boeing shareholder, and you’re wondering if you should hang on. There’s no definitive answer, but consider that due to delayed airplane introductions, a NASA Project Artemis delay, a significant debt load, and strike-related concessions, Boeing may be less profitable than it used to be.

Still, if you remain interested in Boeing, read up on it much more. And if not, know that there are lots of great, attractive stocks out there.