Paris Air Show 2025: Airbus (NASDAQ:EADSY) and Boeing (NYSE:BA) Face Unusual Challenges as Israeli Defense Steals Spotlight

The Paris Air Show 2025 kicked off with more turbulence than expected—and not just in the skies. Airbus and Boeing, the usual headliners, found themselves overshadowed by Israel''s defense tech blitz. Here''s why this year''s event is rewriting the playbook.

Defense Dominates the Tarmac

While commercial aviation giants touted incremental upgrades, Israeli firms paraded next-gen drones and AI-powered systems. No fancy brochures—just specs that made procurement officers drool. Guess peace dividends aren’t bullish for aerospace stocks.

Boeing’s Balancing Act

The 737 MAX ghost still lingers, but BA’s betting big on hypersonic prototypes. Too bad they’re stuck explaining why their ‘autonomous co-pilot’ demo glitched—twice. Wall Street’s patience wears thinner than fuselage margins.

Airbus Plays the Long Game

EADSY’s hydrogen-powered concept jet drew crowds, but skeptics whispered about subsidy addiction. ‘Show us the CAPEX,’ muttered one hedge fund analyst, nursing €8 coffee. Disruption doesn’t come cheap—or fast.

The Bottom Line

When defense contractors out-innovate commercial players, it’s either a geopolitical red flag or a trading opportunity. Place your bets—just don’t expect the usual ‘buy the dip’ logic to apply. After all, in aerospace, the only constant is creative accounting.

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Airbus had a field day in Paris, bringing home a slate of new sales. Given that Europe is Airbus’ home territory, and Boeing has had a range of issues—plus, it presents a difficult picture due to tariffs—the idea that Airbus WOULD be favored at the Paris Air Show probably should have been expected. Certainly Boeing did not go away empty-handed, but Airbus picked up new orders aplenty, including 30 A320NEO craft and 10 A350 freighters from AviLease.

Boeing, meanwhile, had a bit of a subdued presence at the event, with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes (as well as Executive Vice President) Stephanie Pope visibly absent. While we know that Boeing came out strong with new things to show off at the event, we also know that May was huge for Boeing orders, so a certain amount of subdued presence makes sense here. But with the recent Air India disaster coloring things—particularly since it was a 777 Dreamliner that was involved, the first such incident in the plane’s history—that Boeing might keep some of its top brass home during the event is not especially surprising.

The Unexpected Paris Air Show War

But perhaps even bigger than the Boeing and Airbus issues was the unexpected snub delivered to Israel over its presentation of weapons systems. That there are defense systems present at the Paris Air Show is nothing new, nor should be surprising. In fact, reports note that interest in “…the defense side of the show…” was high, particularly given geopolitical conditions these days.

Apparently, the Paris Air Show took exception to Israeli companies, who found their stands forcibly closed as they displayed “attack weapons.” The Paris Air Show called on the Israelis to remove their weapons displays, to which the Israelis responded in the negative. Thus, the black partition you see in the picture above were set up, covering the Israeli display from view. The legend, written in yellow over the black, reads: “Behind these walls are the best defense systems used by many countries. These systems are protecting the state of Israel these days. The french (sic) government, in the name of discrimination, is trying to hide them from you!”

Yoav Tourgeman, CEO of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, stated, “Covering our systems with black curtains doesn’t hide their impact—it exposes the discomfort some feel with our success. This isn’t just an insult to Israel—it’s a failure of principle. We stand proud, unhidden, and undeterred.”

Tourgeman was not alone here, either. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared the MOVE “pretty absurd,” and that point was underscored by Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense Amir Baram. Baram noted that the Israeli companies were allowed to bring the weapons systems into France in the first place, so there was no real reason for France to suddenly demand them being hidden. Except, of course, for the point which some believe to be the case, in which France is trying to cover up the Israeli armaments in a bid to drive up sales of its own missile product. Reports note that France’s primary air product is “offensive missiles,” so France may want to keep a competitor out of the picture at its own air show.

Is Airbus or Boeing the Better Buy Right Now?

Turning to Wall Street, BA stock currently has a Strong Buy consensus rating with an average price target of $220.95 per share and a 9.31% upside potential. Meanwhile, EADSY stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating with a 16.67% downside risk and an average price target of $38.80 per share.

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