Earnings for the company increased during the year over year time frame. What influenced the results is that some of the core businesses; that are a major contributor to Textron's earnings, began to see an improvement in sales. A good example of this can be seen with Cessna, as this accounted for 38% of the company's revenues in 2007. Once the financial crisis began, is when earnings for the division declined sharply. Recently, Textron is reporting that sales at Cessna have improved enough, that it will be able to deliver positive results for 2011. This is because Textron was seeing substantial improvements in their core divisions to include: a 12% increase for Cessna, a 21% improvement at Bell and a 14% increase in the manufacturing division. As a result, the total revenues that they were making in 2010 increased by: $341 million to $3.1 billion. This is important, because it shows how economic conditions, would have an impact upon the operating results for Textron. The reason why, is due to the fact that spending...

This had a direct impact on the bottom line of the company going forward, as Cessna saw a significant decline in sales during the recession. Once this occurred, it would have an effect on the overall financial results, with the severity of slowdown causing the company to have trouble providing any kind of positive forward looking guidance. As a result, once sales began to improve at these divisions, is when Textron began to reporting increasing earnings and could provide more accurate guidance about the future. (Daka, 2011) (Ireland, 2008, pp. 126 -- 127)
Bibliography

Textron Businesses. (2011). Textron. Retrieved from: http://www.textron.com/about/our-businesses/index.php

Daka, a. (2011). Textron Reports Decent Fourth Quarter Results. Morning Star. Retrieved from: http://quicktake.morningstar.com/stocknet/san.aspx?id=367715

Ireland, D. (2008). Understanding Business Strategy. Mason, OH: Southwestern.