The company, based in Chicago, also raised its forecast for all of 2013. It projected earnings of $5.10 to $5.30 a share for the year, an increase from an earlier estimate of $5 to $5.20 a share. It now expects revenue of $83 billion to $86 billion, compared with its earlier forecast for $82 billion to $85 billion.

The gains reflected the strong recovery in commercial aircraft sales since the recession. Like other major military contractors, Boeing has increased profit by cutting costs and expanding foreign arms sales.

The results showed that Boeing had not been hampered much by recent problems with its new 787 Dreamliners. The first 50 jets were grounded from mid-January to late April after two episodes of fire or smoke involving its new lithium-ion batteries. British investigators said last week that another fire, on a 787 parked at London’s Heathrow Airport on July 12, appeared to have been caused by a pinched wire on an emergency locator transmitter, a common device that had nothing to do with the novel systems on the planes.

Boeing delivered 16 additional 787s in the second quarter. The 787, which entered service in late 2011, is made substantially of lightweight carbon composites and has efficient engines that help slash fuel costs by 20 percent. Boeing said it expected to deliver at least 60 Dreamliners this year.

The company also said on Wednesday that it had finished retrofitting the 787s with a new battery system that virtually eliminated the risk of a fire. W. James McNerney Jr., Boeing’s chief executive, said the company had completed deals to compensate airlines for some of the revenue they lost while the planes were grounded. He would not say how much that cost was, other than saying that it did not have a material impact on Boeing’s earnings.

Mr. McNerney said that both Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines, which owns the 787 that caught fire at Heathrow Airport, had insurance to cover such problems.

The 787 had weighed heavily on Boeing’s results in recent years as production delays increased the cost of the planes and forestalled revenue. The increase in deliveries has generated more cash for the company, as have growing sales of 737s and 777s, its most profitable jets.

Boeing has gradually raised production rates for those older models, and Mr. McNerney said on Wednesday that it could eventually produce more than 42 of the single-aisle 737s each month. It now builds 38 a month and plans to expand to 42 a month next year.

Despite cuts in military budgets in Washington and Europe, Boeing said its military business had increased its earnings by 4 percent in the second quarter even though its revenue fell by 4 percent. Its commercial aircraft and military businesses have both been buoyed by sales to Middle Eastern and Asian customers.

Over all, Boeing’s revenue rose 9 percent, to $21.82 billion from $20 billion, in the second quarter. Its net earnings jumped to $1.09 billion, or $1.41 a share, from $967 million, or $1.27 a share, a year earlier.

Excluding pension costs and other ancillary items, Boeing said its core operating earnings also rose by 13 percent, to $2.03 billion, or $1.67 a share, from $1.79 billion, or $1.48 a share, in the same quarter a year ago. Analysts had expected core earnings of $1.58 a share, according to Thomson Reuters. Boeing projected that its core earnings for all of 2013 would total $6.20 a share to $6.40 a share.

Also on Wednesday, safety investigators in the United Arab Emirates concluded “with reasonable certainty” that a fire that started in cargo containing lithium batteries caused the crash of a Boeing 747-400 cargo plane in the desert near Dubai three years ago. The crash killed both of the United Parcel Service pilots who were flying the plane. That and other fires in aircraft cargo holds have led to tighter rules on transporting lithium batteries.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/business/boeing-exceeds-expectations-and-raises-its-forecast.html?partner=rss&emc=rss