Boeing wowed Wall Street on Wednesday with better-than expected third-quarter profits even as the jet maker cut deliveries and announced new delays to its 787 and 747-8 programs.

The aerospace company posted a profit of $1.46 per share, shattering the $1.10 per share predicted by analysts. Boeing’s shares shot up to $66.56, an increase of $2.84 on Wednesday — the same day that the 787’s launch customer, All Nippon Airways, completed its first commercial flight.

In a regulatory filing released after the markets closed Wednesday, Boeing pushed back deliveries of its 787-9 and 747-8 passenger planes, though Boeing executives didn’t mention those delays in a call with journalists and analysts earlier in the day.

Boeing bumped initial delivery its 787-9, a larger version of its 787-8, from 2013 to 2014. The jet maker also delayed delivery of its 747-8 passenger plane until the first quarter of 2012. The delivery of that updated jumbo jet was expected by year’s end.

The company also said it will deliver fewer 787 and 747s in 2011. Deliveries have been reduced to 15 or 20, down from Boeing’s previous prediction of delivering 25 to 30 of the planes. Boeing delivered its first 787 in September and first 747-8 cargo plane earlier this month.

“With certification and first deliveries of the 787 and 747-8 behind us, our clear priority is on executing the ramp-up and production across all our commercial airplane programs,” said Jim McNerney, Boeing’s chief executive.

After a three-year delay on the 787 and a two-year setback on the 747-8, Boeing is focused on increasing production. Boeing’s James Bell, chief financial officer, revealed that the company will spread the 787’s initial manufacturing and tooling costs over the first 1,100 aircraft Boeing delivers, which will take about 10 years to accomplish. The company and its global suppliers struggled with production and new technology challenges on the 787. Boeing is distributing costs on the 787 over a larger number of airplanes but taking roughly the same number of years to clear off those costs.

Boeing’s inventory for the 787 through the end of September sits at about $18 billion, which includes tooling, payments to suppliers and the roughly 40 Dreamliners the company has built, Bell said. Boeing’s costs on its initial 40 787s are high, as those aircraft will need extensive re-work in order for Boeing to be able to deliver the jets. Bell and McNerney believe that production will stabilize, meaning 787s built won’t need extra work, after 50 or 60 of them have been built.

“Over the next 20 years, we estimate the … market for the 787 class of airplanes at 5,000 units,” Bell said.

But lately Boeing has seen more cancellations than new orders for the Dreamliner, which is supposed to save airlines 20 percent in fuel costs. Boeing has orders for about 800 of its new Dreamliner aircraft, which is sold out through 2019, McNerney said. He believes the company will see more 787 orders when Boeing clears off some of its backlog.

Boeing’s backlog of unfilled orders across its commercial airplanes programs increased to $273 billion at the end of the third quarter.

The company earned $1.1 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That’s up 31 per cent from the same period last year. Revenue rose 4 per cent to $17.7 billion.

Boeing estimated its 2011 earnings will be between $4.30 to $4.40 per share, up from a previous estimate of $3.90 to $4.10 per share.