Shares of defense contractor Textron (NYSE: TXT) tumbled 11.8% through 10:35 a.m. ET Thursday despite the company reporting better-than-expected results for Q1 2024.

Analysts forecast the maker of armored cars, military drones, Cessna airplanes, and Bell helicopters would earn only $1.13 per share (non-GAAP) on sales of $3.1 billion in Q1. But Textron surprised to the upside with $1.20 per share in earnings and sales of $3.14 billion -- yet its stock fell. Why?

The earnings numbers above are all non-GAAP -- which is to say they don't count costs that the company considers "one-time" in nature. When calculated according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Textron's earnings were actually only $1.03 per share, which was less than the non-GAAP number, and may have disappointed investors. Still, it's a respectable 12% improvement over Q1 2023 numbers -- not too shabby considering sales grew less than 4%.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com