Boeing reported second-quarter earnings Wednesday that topped analyst estimates, and it raised its profit forecast for the second time this year.

The gains reflected a surge in aircraft deliveries, led by the company's most profitable models, the 777 and the 737. Boeing said it was also starting to build its new 787 Dreamliner jets without having to make changes after the assembly line, avoiding the costly problems that had slowed the product for years.

Analysts said Boeing appeared to be on track this year to pass Airbus as the world's top producer of commercial airplanes. Boeing said Wednesday that it expected to deliver 585 to 600 planes this year. Airbus, which passed Boeing in deliveries in 2003 and has led ever since, has projected its total at 570 this year.

Boeing said it also benefited from stronger-than-expected results from its military business. Military revenue rose 7 percent.

Its shares rose $2 or 2.8 percent to close at $74.03 in New York Stock Exchange trading.

Robert Stallard, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients that a quarter with "no mistakes" helped Boeing record the earnings boost, particularly on the commercial-aircraft side. He also cited the gains in the military business.

Boeing and Airbus are both receiving more orders as airlines seek more fuel-efficient planes and customers in Asia and the Middle East continue to expand.

All told, the company reported that net income rose nearly 3 percent to $967 million, or $1.27 a share, in the quarter from $941 million, or $1.25 a share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News had, on average, expected a profit of $1.13 a share in the latest period.

Boeing's revenue rose 21 percent to $20 billion in the quarter from $16.5 billion a year earlier. The company also raised its per-share earnings forecast for all of 2012 to between $4.40 and $4.60, up from an earlier increase in its guidance to $4.15 to $4.35 a share. It now expects revenue for 2012 of $79.5 billion to $81.5 billion. Its earlier projection was $78 billion to $80 billion.

Boeing delivered 150 commercial planes in the second quarter, up 27 percent from 118 a year earlier. The company reiterated that it expects to deliver 70 to 85 of the new 787 Dreamliners and the larger 747-8 aircraft this year.

Boeing is still working on 56 787s that need fixes because they rolled off the assembly line incomplete or before the plane was certified, Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith said on a conference call with analysts.

About two-thirds of this year's deliveries will come from that batch and the rest will be fresh from the factory, he repeated. There has been "significant improvement" recently in the condition of newly built 787s, he said.

Boeing is on track to assemble 10 of the composite-plastic 787s a month by the end of 2013, McNerney said on the call.

McNerney said the company is addressing the "hot spot" of problems building the aft fuselage at its North Charleston, S.C., complex, as well as a couple of other areas in the supply chain.

"I don't think it's a show stopper in terms of getting to rate, but it is something we're focused on," he said.

Separately on Wednesday, Grupo Aeromexico said it signed a letter of intent with Boeing to buy 100 planes with a list value of about $11 billion. The purchase will consist of 90 of Boeing's 737 MAX single-aisle jets and 10 wide-body 787-9 Dreamliners, the companies said.

"It's the largest aircraft purchase in the history of Mexico," Dionisio Perez-Jacome, the nation's communications and transportation minister, said at a news conference with company executives in Mexico City.

Material from Bloomberg News and Seattle Times staff is included in this report.