Boeing delivered 150 aircraft in the three months through June, positioning itself to meet a 2012 target even with year-to-date shipments of the new 787 and 747-8 models at only about a third of the plane-maker's goal.

Only six Dreamliners were shipped in the quarter, bringing the half-year total to 11, and Boeing handed over seven 747-8 jumbo jets for a six-month tally of 13, the company said Thursday.

Boeing's plan, reiterated in April, is to deliver 70 to 85 of those models this year, split about evenly between them.

Boeing's total production is slated to increase by more than 60 percent in the four years through 2014 as the company works off a record order backlog for about 4,000 aircraft.

The company delivered 287 planes in the first half out of a full-year goal of 585 to 600 aircraft.

That compares with 477 deliveries in 2011, including 222 in the first six months.

"While revenue is impacted by lower than anticipated deliveries of 747 and 787, profitability should be enhanced by the higher deliveries" of other models including the 737 and the 777 in the second quarter, Stephen Levenson, an analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., wrote in a note Thursday.

"We are keeping our conservative outlook for deliveries for the balance of the year," he said.

Boeing, which is to report quarterly earnings July 25, rose 0.2 percent to $74.44 Thursday.

The higher-than-expected number of 737s and 777s delivered last quarter may contribute almost 10 cents a share to earnings, Carter Copeland and Joe Campbell, analysts with Barclays, wrote in a note to clients.

The light 787 deliveries "will have limited impact on earnings per share given the low margin on the program," they wrote.

In the first half, Dreamliner deliveries were set back by the discovery of improperly installed shims that had to be replaced on all 55 planes built as of February.

Air India also pushed back the handover of its first 787 amid talks over compensation for the three-year delay to the jet's entry into service.

There were no Dreamliner deliveries in February or May.

Second-quarter weakness in shipments appears to be related to customer-timing issues rather than manufacturing problems, Copeland and Campbell wrote.

Boeing expects to increase 787 deliveries in the second half as it ramps up to building five jets a month later this year and starts delivering planes from its new final-assembly line in South Carolina as well as the main one in Everett.

Last year, Boeing missed its target of delivering 15 to 20 of the two new models, which both entered service in the fourth quarter of 2011. It delivered just three Dreamliners and nine 747s.

Boeing, which has unfilled orders for 845 of the composite Dreamliners, is increasing output of that plane to 10 a month by the end of 2013.

The company had won orders for 440 new jets through June 30, net of cancellations, according to its website update Thursday. The majority of those orders are for the new 737 MAX model.

The company reported 230 orders in the first six months of 2011.

Virgin Australia

wants 23 MAX jets

Virgin Australia Holdings, backed by billionaire Richard Branson, ordered 23 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to support its challenge to Qantas Airways.

Deliveries will begin in 2019, the Brisbane-based carrier said. The deal is worth $2.2 billion based on list prices.

The airline also delayed the delivery of an unspecified number of 737-800s until after 2016. It said it has outstanding orders for 31 737-800s to be delivered between 2013 and 2016.