Deere Earnings Strong, but Outlook Is Nothing to Cheer About
Deere & Co. reported better-than-expected first-quarter fiscal 2014 results before markets opened Wednesday, but the outlook for 2014 was soft. Still, shares traded higher in the premarket.
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Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) reported first-quarter fiscal 2014 results before markets opened Wednesday. For the quarter, the farm and heavy equipment maker posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.81 on revenues of $7.65 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted EPS of $1.65 on revenues of $7.42 billion. First-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $1.53 and $6.62 billion in revenues.
The company continues to expect full-year net income of $3.3 billion on a sales decline of 3%, as well as a drop of 6% in the second quarter. In fiscal year 2013, the company’s revenues totaled $3.54 billion.
The company’s CEO said:
Even in the face of moderating demand for agricultural equipment, Deere is well-positioned to deliver solid performance. We believe that our extensive investments in new products and new markets will provide strong support to our results and keep our strategic plans moving ahead.
Sales in the company’s agriculture and turf division rose 2% year-over-year in the quarter, while construction and forestry equipment sales were up 4%. Deere expects agriculture and turf sales to fall 6% in the 2014 fiscal year, which includes a decline of 5% in agricultural machinery sales. Construction and forestry equipment sales are expected to rise 10% for the year.
Deere actually performed better in its first quarter than it had estimated. The company had been looking for a sales decline of 2% and instead posted a gain of 3%. But Deere’s expected overall softness for the year remains.
Shares of Deere traded up about 2.3% in the premarket Wednesday, at $89.51. The 52-week range is $79.50 to $94.01. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $87.00 before this report.
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
