In most industries, a $262 billion order backlog is a reason for panic. In the airplane industry, it's reason to rejoice, and this result has Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) celebrating a great first quarter 2007 earnings report. The company posted $1.13 earnings per share, as earnings increased 27% to $877 million. The earning were considerably above the $1.01 forecast reported by Thomson Financial.

Revenue for the period was up 8%, to $15.4 billion. Planes deliveries in the quarter were also up 8%, to 106. Thanks in part to rising oil prices, Boeing's confirmed orders for its new fuel-efficient Dreamliner 787 have reached a whopping 544 from 44 customers. The first production 787 is scheduled to roll off the assembly line in July, and go into service in May of 2008.

Revenues from Boeing Integrated Defense Systems also finished up by 7%, with operating earnings of $784 million and an operating margin of 10.2%.

The company expects to deliver 440+ commercial planes this year. However, Boeing's guidance for 2007 revenues remained unchanged at $64.5-65 billion, and $71-72 billion for 2008. Still, analysts had expected a bump up of 2007 and 2008 estimates, and the market expressed its disappointment with a slight decline in the stock price. Nonetheless, Boeing has enjoyed strong growth for the last six months, up 20% for the period.