Embraer delivered 29 of its E-Jets to commercial airlines from July through September, the division's best performance for the period since 2009, putting the company on track to hit a full-year delivery target of 105 to 110 deliveries.

The success of Embraer's narrow-body medium-range E-Jet airliners has made it the world's third-largest commercial planemaker.

Embraer shares rose 2.6 percent in Sao Paulo, among the strongest gainers on the benchmark Bovespa stock index <.BVSP>.

BTG Pactual analysts said commercial jet deliveries beat their expectations by eight aircraft, but they warned that competitive pricing pressures for executive jets would still weigh on earnings, which are scheduled for release on Oct. 31.

Third-quarter executive jet deliveries slipped to 25 aircraft from 30 planes a year earlier, although deliveries of larger models rose by a third to 12 aircraft, boosted by stronger demand for the new Legacy 450/500 model.

Embraer's order backlog, a gauge of its revenue in the pipeline, fell to $21.4 billion at end-September from $21.9 billion at end-June, marking its first quarterly drop in a year-and-a-half.

(Reporting by Brad Haynes, additional reporting by Silvio Cascione in Brasilia, editing by W Simon)