Bank of America Merrill Lynch Comments on Southwest Airlines' Boeing Order

Bank of America Merrill Lynch provided color on Southwest Airlines'

firm purchase order of Boeing

aircraft in a research note published today. Bank of America Merrill Lynch has a Buy rating and $85 price objective on Boeing. In the report, Bank of America Merrill Lynch states, "Boeing announced this morning that the 737MAX had logged its first firm order from launch customer Southwest Airlines (

). LUV announced a firm order for 150 737MAX airplanes and 58 737NG, worth ~$19bn at list price, plus options for another 150 aircraft. Southwest is the largest operator of 737s; this order should come as no surprise and only re-confirms Boeing's decision to re-engine." Shares of Boeing were trading at $72.24 at the time of posting, up 1.90% from Monday's market close.