(Bloomberg) -- Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA is showing up its larger rivals by keeping factories humming and shipments flowing. 

The company is entering the year with strong momentum after a 2024 in which deliveries jumped 14%, its shares rallied 150% and its credit rating was upgraded from junk status for the first time since the pandemic. That came despite serious macroeconomic headwinds in Brazil, including double-digit interest rate hikes and a slump in the local currency.

“We are going to keep focused on sell, sell, sell,” Embraer’s chief executive officer, Francisco Gomes Neto, said in an interview, noting that 2025 is shaping up to be an “even better” year for the company. 

The world’s third-largest plane manufacturer has long-term ambitions to take on the Boeing Co. and Airbus SE global duopoly, but its smaller aircraft and market cap make it a distant — if distinct — competitor. It’s benefitted from a reputation for engineering excellence and a solid track record for designing new planes on tight budgets and deadlines.

Five years after Boeing canceled plans to acquire Embraer’s commercial business as the pandemic grounded the airline industry, the São José dos Campos-based company is thriving on its own in the global market for private and regional jets. It has become one of Latin America’s biggest home-grown success stories in manufacturing. 

The performance contrasts with its bigger rivals, as Boeing works to rebuild after a brutal year and Airbus battles persistent supply-chain snags. The dynamic could open the door for Embraer to expand its portfolio. Neto, who has led the company since 2019, told Bloomberg that a new aircraft program is not a near-term priority. But as recently as October, he hinted that Embraer is studying a new jet to compete with Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’s A320. 

For now, the company is concentrating on its current lineup and looking for ways to stabilize its production cadence. Historically, deliveries tend to peak in the last quarter of the year, but Neto said he wants to even that out across the year.

“We plan to improve the leveling of delivers along all the quarters,” particularly after the first three months of the year, he said.

Industry analysts are confident that the company has room to grow further in all segments, with stronger margins coming from commercial aviation and a boost in orders on the defense front, benefiting from a challenging geopolitical scenario. 

The company delivered 206 aircraft in 2024, more than half of which were private jets. Itau BBA, the research arm of Itau Unibanco Holding SA, estimates Embraer will build on that total this year by delivering as many as 220 commercial aircraft and private jets.

Military planes also are a bright spot for Embraer. Its Super Tucano attack aircraft has landed orders from a handful of nations — from Paraguay to Portugal — and its tanker-transport, the C-390 Millennium, has secured buyers in Europe and Asia, including a recent order from South Korea. It’s even hoping to win business from the US military.

Embraer is poised to benefit as defense budgets rise around the world and geopolitics grow increasingly complex, said Stephen Trent, an analyst at $Citigroup Inc(C-N)$. with a buy rating on the stock.

The company faces a potential threat if President-elect Donald Trump applies new tariffs and Brazil retaliates in kind. Imports from North America — mostly from the US — accounted for about 56% of Embraer’s components in recent years and the company also exports to the US. 

But Neto played down that risk, saying a trade war would hurt companies in both countries. “We cannot say what will happen, but we trust in the common sense from both sides,” he said.

--With assistance from Giovanna Serafim.

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