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Leading commercial aircraft manufacturer The Boeing Co. BA is set to release fourth-quarter 2016 results before the opening bell on Jan 25.

The company posted a positive earnings surprise of 33.97% in the preceding quarter. Moreover, the company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the past four quarters, with an average beat of 24.66%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors at Play

Boeing recently reported a 1.8% year-over-year decline in its commercial deliveries in 2016 to 748 airplanes due to sluggish demand for the 737, 747 and 767 models. However, the figure is above the company’s guidance of deliveries between 740 and 745 jets for 2016. Again, the company’s fourth-quarter 2016 commercial deliveries of 185 airplanes were up year over year due to higher demand for the 737, 777 and 767 jets.

In the defense and space business, Boeing’s deliveries were 185 in 2016, down from 190 a year ago. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the company’s deliveries were 40, down from 44 a year ago.

Boeing enjoys a steady flow of contracts for both its commercial and defense products. During the fourth quarter, the company received an order for five 787-9 Dreamliners, valued at $1.32 billion at current list prices, from Donghai Airlines. Moreover, it inked a high-value deal with Iran Air for 80 jetliners, valued at $16.6 billion.

Within the defense business, Boeing clinched a $558.5 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to upgrade F-15 Combined APG-63 Version 3, Radar Improvement Program Version 3 and APG-82 Version 1 Radar Modernization Program radar. In addition, its unit won a foreign military sales contract worth $207.5 million from the Pentagon. Boeing also won a contract, worth $308.3 million, to provide for the engineering change proposal 6472 integration of Next Generation Jammer Pod onto the EA-18G aircraft. These contracts should contribute significantly to the company’s top line in the fourth quarter.

Also, in the quarter under review, Boeing boosted its quarterly dividend by 30% and authorized a new stock repurchase plan of $14 billion, thereby giving investors a share of benefits of soaring airliner deliveries. Boeing will pay a revised quarterly dividend of $1.42 per share on Mar 3, to shareholders on record as of Feb 10.  Notably, on account of this hike, each Boeing shareholder will enjoy an extra 13.6–18.3% on each common share of the company. These investor friendly moves will help the company to maintain its growth trajectory in the near as well as long term.

Overall, for the fourth quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings stands at $2.34, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 46%; while that for revenues is pegged at $23.45 billion, translating into a 0.5% decline.