(Reuters) – Boeing Co shares jumped on Wednesday as the world’s largest planemaker raised its profit and cash flow expectations for 2019 amid a boom in air travel, while indicating it had overcome supplier delays that snarled 737 production last year.

Chicago-based Boeing said it expects to deliver between 895 and 905 commercial aircraft in 2019, up from 806 aircraft it delivered last year, which – although just below target – kept it ahead of rival Airbus SE for a seventh year.

Investors closely watch the number of planes Boeing turns over to airlines and leasing firms in a year for hints on the company’s cash flow and revenue.

Despite its rosy outlook, America’s biggest exporter faces possible turbulence on a number of fronts in 2019 including financial stress felt by some of its airline customers, signs of a broader economic slowdown and U.S. trade tensions with China, where Boeing ships 1 out of 4 aircraft that it makes.

There are also unanswered questions related to the deadly crash of a Lion Air 737 MAX in Indonesia in October that thrust a spotlight on the newest version of the best-selling jet, as well as on airline training and maintenance.

Boeing’s shares rose 6.4 percent to $388.25 in premarket trading, helping lift U.S. stock futures.

Boeing raised its full-year core earnings per share forecast to $19.90-$20.10 from $14.90-$15.10, and revenue to a range of $109.5 billion to $111.5 billion, from $98 billion to $100 billion, fueled by strong volume across its commercial, military and services businesses.

AWAITING NEW JET DECISION

Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg said the company’s performance provides a “firm platform” to further invest in new innovation as the aviation industry is awaiting a 2019 decision on whether Boeing will move ahead with a new mid-sized aircraft dubbed NMA.

It also said the first all-new 777X widebody flight test airplane completed final body join and power-on, and the program remains on track for flight testing this year and first delivery in 2020.

The company forecast operating cash flow between $17 billion and $17.5 billion in 2019, compared with cash flow of $15.32 billion in 2018, and above analysts’ average estimate of $16.73 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

It expects 2019 core earnings between $19.90 per share and $20.10 per share, and revenue between $109.5 billion and $111.5 billion.

Those numbers indicate Boeing has largely surmounted delays getting fuselages and engines for its best-selling 737 narrowbody which snarled production over the past year. Even so, related production logjams dragged down quarterly free cash flow to $2.45 billion, below the previous year.

Boeing’s core earnings rose to $5.48 per share in the fourth quarter, from $5.07 per share a year earlier, and came in above Wall Street’s estimate of $4.57 per share.

Quarterly revenue rose 14.4 percent to $28.34 billion, above analysts’ average expectation of $26.87 billion. Boeing’s 2018 revenue surpassed the $100 billion mark for the first time in its 102-year history.

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