Textron reports drop in Industrial revenue

In its Industrial segment, Textron brands include Arctic Cat, Cushman, E-Z-Go, Jacobsen and other industrial brands. The Textron portfolio also includes the much larger (revenue wise) Bell helicopters as well as Cessna and Beechcraft aircraft. The company made news here recently for stopping production lines that manufacture Arctic Cat snowmobiles, side-by-sides, and ATVs. The snowmobile industry and enthusiastic riders are wondering what will happen in an industry that might have just two manufacturers (Yamaha released its Final Edition snowmobiles for the 2025 model year). 

Arctic-Cat-EZGo-new24
Textron Industrial includes Arctic Cat, a product line now in limbo.

Textron released its Q4 2024 financials on Jan. 22, announcing that revenues for the period were down 10 percent from Q4 2023. In the Industrial segment, revenues and profits were down significantly. For more details, here are some executive statements from the company’s earnings call held last week. 

David Rosenberg; vice president, Investor Relations; Textron:

Revenues in the quarter were $3.6 billion, down from $3.9 billion in last year’s fourth quarter. Segment profit in the quarter was $283 million, down $101 million from the fourth quarter of 2023. During this year’s fourth quarter, adjusted income from continuing operations was $1.34 per share compared to $1.60 per share in last year’s fourth quarter.

Manufacturing cash flow before pension contributions totaled $306 million in the quarter, down $74 million from last year’s fourth quarter. For the full year, revenues were $13.7 billion, up $19 million from last year. In 2024, segment profit was $1.2 billion, down $127 million from 2023. Adjusted income from continuing operations was $5.48 per share as compared to $5.59 per share in 2023. Manufacturing cash flow before pension contributions was $692 million, down $239 million from 2023.

Scott Donnelly; chairman of the board, president, CEO; Textron:

2024 results were impacted by work stoppage aviation in difficult end markets in our Industrial segment. During the quarter, Aviation reached an agreement with the IAM on a new five-year contract. While the strike was unfortunate, we did take this opportunity to significantly improve our parts flow to the production line, which we expect will reduce our station work and improve efficiency going forward …

At Industrial, the segment experienced lower revenues and operating profit in the quarter, primarily driven by the ongoing softness in specialized vehicles end markets. We are in the process of conducting a strategic review of our powersports product line.

Frank Connor, CFO, executive vice president; Textron:

Industrial revenues were $869 million, down $92 million from last year’s fourth quarter, largely reflecting lower volume. Segment profit of $48 million was down $9 million from the fourth quarter of 2023, reflecting lower volume and mix and inflation, partially offset by manufacturing efficiencies and lower selling and administrative expense largely due to cost reduction activities.

In December, we announced a strategic review of our powersports product line within the Industrial segment that resulted in additional restructuring actions. With these actions, we recorded total pretax special charges of $53 million, an inventory valuation charge of $38 million in the fourth quarter.

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