In Q2 Bell delivered 36 helicopters to civilian customers including the 700th 505. Image: Bell
Bell’s second quarter results released by parent company Textron reveal continued improvement in revenue chalking up USD1.1 billion in the second quarter, an improvement of 6% (USD58 million) compared with Q1. The company says that this uptick comes primary as the result of higher defence revenue of USD47m thanks to higher H-1 production rates and the rising tempo of the MV-75 programme. At the same time civil revenues from aircraft sales, support and services increased USD11m compared with Q1. These values are reflected by a higher rate of aircraft delivery with 36 civil helicopters leaving the factory four more than in the first quarter.
Against that positive picture Bell’s profitability took a hit, down by USD5m to USD75m or 6% versus the same period of 2025. Bell says that this is the result of a number of factors including programme performance and the the civil/defence mix though this impact was offset to a certain extent by a reduction in research and development spending.
This translates to a half year result that reveals a profit of USD147m revenues of USD 2.144 billion this compares with USD 170m and USD1.999bn respectively in the first half of 2025. Even so, with an order backlog valued at USD7.6 bn compared with USD6.9 bn at the same point last year, the company has not changed its forecast for the full year 2026.
