Cessna Flat, Bell Rises at Textron

Third-quarter earnings at Cessna Aircraft and Bell Helicopter parent company Textron rose 6.6 percent year-over-year, to $3 billion, though its manufacturing segment profits slid by $6 million to $254 million. Half of that decrease was attributable to Cessna, which showed a pre-tax profit of $30 million in the quarter versus $33 million last year. But pre-tax quarterly profits at Bell soared by $22 million, to $165 million.