Textron lowers outlook as Bell Helicopter profits decline

Textron, the military and civilian aircraft maker that owns Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter, dialed back its outlook for 2016 on Wednesday after its fourth-quarter earnings missed Wall Street expectations.

The Rhode Island-based company said it recorded fourth-quarter adjusted net income of 81 cents a share, short of the estimate of 83 cents from eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.

The maker of Cessna small planes and Bell helicopters posted revenue of $3.92 billion in the period, down from $4.1 billion in the same quarter last year.

At Bell, fourth-quarter profit fell by $22 million, or 15 percent, to $124 million, and revenue fell 3 percent to $1.035 billion. For the full year, Bell profits dropped 24 percent to $400 million in 2015 and revenue fell 19 percent to $3.5 billion.

Textron is forecasting full-year earnings of $14.3 billion, about $2.60 to $2.80 per share, down from previous estimates.

Citi analyst Jason Gursky noted that the shortcoming was likely due to poor margins in the company's aviation division, specifically its Bell unit.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Textron lowers outlook as Bell Helicopter profits decline."