Moody’s upgrades Bombardier’s credit rating to Ba2
The upgrade was the company’s second from Moody’s in the past 12 months.
Moody’s Ratings upgraded Bombardier Inc.’s corporate family rating to Ba2 from Ba3. Bombardier’s speculative grade liquidity rating remains unchanged at SGL-1, and its outlook remains positive.
“The upgrade reflects Bombardier’s continued progress reducing its financial leverage through strong cash flow generation, driven by improving margins and revenue growth, particularly in the aftermarket and defense businesses,” said Will Gu, Moody’s Ratings lead analyst.
Moody’s said Bombardier has generated positive free cash flow since 2021 and is expected to generate about $1bn of free cash flow for 2026. The company’s adjusted EBIT margin rose to 11.4% on a last-twelve-months basis through June 2026, up from 10.1% in 2023. Revenue book-to-bill was 1.5x for the first half of 2026, with a backlog of $21.8bn. Bombardier has made approximately $1.1bn of net debt repayments year-to-date, with further prepayments possible.
Bart Demosky, Bombardier’s chief financial officer, said the upgrade was the company’s second from Moody’s in the past 12 months. “It reflects the consistent operational performance we have delivered and our sustained focus on deleveraging over recent years, as well as our strong track record of earnings growth, free cash flow generation and continued revenue diversification through our Services and Defense businesses,” Demosky said.
The agency said Bombardier’s Ba2 rating reflects its market position in business jets and defense applications, its scale, reduced debt-to-EBITDA, and its backlog, but is constrained by the cyclical nature of the business jet market, fixed charges of about $650m a year in interest and capital expenditures, and supply chain risks tied to its dual-platform manufacturing.
Moody’s said Bombardier has about $3bn in liquidity sources against roughly $50m of uses through June 2027, including about $1.5bn of cash as of June 30, 2026, full availability under its $750m revolving credit facility maturing in 2031, and an estimated $765m in free cash flow generation through June 2027.
The company has no meaningful debt maturities until 2030.
Moody’s said the positive outlook reflects its expectation that Bombardier will continue generating free cash flow, with margins and leverage improving in 2027 and leverage trending below 3.0x.
The agency said it could upgrade the rating further if adjusted debt/EBITDA is sustained below 3.0x and free cash flow to debt remains consistently in the mid-single digits.
Bombardier has a dual-class share structure in which the founding family holds 50.4% of voting rights through a special class of stock carrying 10 votes per share and holds four of the company’s 14 board seats.
