Boeing shares were rising early Friday after the company offered investors a pleasant end-of-week surprise.

The company said it is accelerating planned rate increases on production of its 777 and 747. The move comes as the company adjusts to meet increased demand in the recovering airplane market.

We believe that the next move for Boeing in terms of commercial aircraft production is up, wrote Wedbush Morgan analyst Kenneth Herbert earlier in the week. As unlikely as this seemed just a few months ago, the strong rebound in commercial passenger and freight travel, the improving macro climate, the modest production increases this cycle and the strength of the current backlog have given both Boeing and Airbus greater flexibility in their production schedules than in any prior cycle.

The bottom line: Boeing stock may be choppy in the near term, but longer term we believe a sustained rebound in the fundamentals will provide additional upside, wrote Herbert. The analyst raised his price target to $79 and upgraded the stock to outperform, even though shares have appreciated 28% vs. the S&P 500 s 3% rise already this year, as at this point in the cycle, the tailwinds for Boeing stock greatly outweigh the headwinds.

Palm Down

Palm shares took a dive Friday as investors reacted to a dim outlook.

Palm reported a narrowed third quarter loss late Thursday, on $350 million in sales, topping the company s own forecast for $285 million to $310 million. The third quarter benefitted from the early delivery of several shipments, just before the end of the three-month period. But, in light of slumping sales and also the inventory that carriers have amassed, Palm expects sales in the current quarter to reach less than $150 million. That s well short of the $305 million that analysts were expecting.

While the company reported smartphone shipments of 960,000, device sell-through was very poor at 408,000 units, down 29% from the prior quarter and indicating very weak end-user demand, wrote Cannacord analyst Peter Misek.

"Our recent underperformance has been very disappointing, but the potential for Palm remains strong," Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein said in a statement.

The bottom line: The company received an array of downgrades and harsh analyst commentary. We believe Palm s troubles will only accelerate as carriers and suppliers increasingly question the company s solvency and withdraw their support, wrote Misek, who has a price target of $0.00 and a sell rating. With what appears to be roughly 12 months of cash on hand, an accelerating burn rate, a complete lack of earnings visibility, and substantial debt and preferred equity, we no longer see any value in the company s common equity.