RBC Notes Airbus' 'Improving' Confidence for H2; Price Target, Estimates Revised

12:56 AM EDT, 07/30/2026 (MT Newswires) -- RBC Capital Markets updated its price target and earnings forecasts for Airbus (AIR.PA, AIR.F), noting the European planemaker's growing optimism regarding its second-half performance. "Airbus reported a strong 2Q26, with total adj EBIT of EUR2,427M (11.8% margin) and total sales growth of ~28%, led by the Airbus Commercial business. The company has not changed its 2026 guidance, but confidence in the full-year outlook is improving, and the recent Investor Briefing has provided [much-needed] mid-term (2029) targets. We now model ~875 2026 deliveries, and we are largely maintaining our estimates. We believe the commercial aerospace cycle strength will support positive sentiment on Airbus, and we are maintaining our Outperform rating and increasing our price target to [EUR250 from EUR225]," according to a Wednesday note. For the first six months of 2026, Airbus' revenue rose 12% year over year to 33.18 billion euros, while its adjusted EBIT was up 24% to 2.73 billion euros. The company maintained its full-year outlook, including 870 commercial aircraft deliveries, an adjusted EBIT of 7.5 billion euros and free cash flow before customer financing of 4.5 billion euros. "While we did not expect the company to raise its 2026 outlook, we are slightly raising our estimates, and we increasingly view the 2026 outlook as conservative, which we view as a positive," the research firm said. Accordingly, analysts lifted their revenue and adjusted EBIT projections for full-year 2026 through 2028. RBC's adjusted EPS forecasts for 2027 and 2028 were also raised, while the 2026 estimate was trimmed.