Boeing is running into turbulence as it seeks to catch up on a backlog of orders while repairing its reputation. The WSJ’s Alison Sider and Andrew Tangel report that the Federal Aviation Administration is preventing the aircraft manufacturer from expanding 737 MAX production as regulators investigate a near-catastrophe on an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month. The FAA is freezing MAX production at current levels, a move that will hamper the aircraft maker’s ability to deliver on a backlog of more than 4,300 undelivered 737s. The company has been making about 30 of the jets a month and had planned to add another manufacturing line to help speed production as it sought to meet a goal of producing 50 737s a month by next year. There is one bright spot for Boeing’s fleet. The FAA said grounded jets can resume flying after airlines complete inspections.

• Alaska Air warned that the grounding of its Boeing fleet would dent earnings by about $150 million this year. (WSJ)

Chip makers are bouncing back but keeping expectations low. The WSJ’s Jacky Wong writes in Heard on the Street that the market appears to be recovering after a year of sagging demand. South Korea’s SK Hynix, one of the world’s top memory-chip producers, reported that operating profit turned positive last quarter following four consecutive quarters of losses. The business is being fueled by demand for artificial intelligence, which requires large amounts of high-performance memory chips. Chip maker Intel made $2.7 billion of profit in the latest quarter after posting a loss a year earlier, a sign people and companies are buying more personal computers, the WSJ’s Asa Fitch reports. Research firm Gartner said PC shipments rose 0.3% in the fourth quarter after eight straight quarters of decline. But Intel’s tepid sales outlook for the current quarter signals there are still challenges ahead.

• Russia imported more than $1 billion of advanced U.S. and European chips last year despite trade restrictions. (Bloomberg)

The U.S. economy grew 3.3% on an annual basis in the fourth quarter. (WSJ)

U.S. natural-gas production hit new highs in December, pushing prices down. (WSJ)

New orders for durable goods in the U.S. were unchanged in December. (WSJ)

Apple’s smartphone shipments in China fell 2.1% in the fourth quarter. (WSJ)

Union Pacific's profit rose 0.9% in the fourth quarter as the freight railroad warned of a muted volume outlook for 2024. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Union Pacific plans to reduce its workforce and increase train length this year. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Mining giant BHP Group is diverting almost all of its shipments from Asia to Europe away from the Red Sea. (WSJ)

Mediterranean Shipping dropped its service between West India and the U.S. East Coast amid the Red Sea shipping crisis. (Journal of Commerce)

The U.S. and the U.K. imposed sanctions on four senior Houthi officials for their roles in attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. (Splash 247)

The Port of New Orleans is getting a $266 million federal grant for a new container terminal. (Seatrade Maritime News)

Sporting-goods retailer Academy Sports and Outdoors named Robert Howell chief supply-chain officer. (Supply Chain Dive)

U.K. factories cut production and investment for the 11th straight month. (The Guardian)

Germany’s e-commerce sales fell 11.8% in 2023, the first time the measure has fallen by double digits. (Reuters)

• More companies are reporting security breaches: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft and EquiLend, to name a few.
• Some private-equity firms are sticking with natural gas despite climate-related pushback.
• Broadcom’s new billing models for VMware products are making CIOs take notice.
• A pricing metric for Conagra dipped into negative territory, a sign that consumers are scaling back. 
• WeWork is wrestling with lease amendments despite trying to negotiate while in bankruptcy. 

Paul Page is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at paul.page@wsj.com.

Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team: @PaulPage, @bylizyoung and @pdberger. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report on X at @WSJLogistics.