Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Out Standing in His Field: John Deere Profit Tops Estimates on Farm Equipment Demand, Market Wants More (DE)

The stock is trading down 1.3% at at $65.35.
I first heard the "Out standing..." line in reference to wheat agronomist Norman Borlaug who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for preventing up to one billion premature deaths.
The Peace prize committee had different criteria in 1970.
We are finding some serious problems with the input intensive approach that he favored but judged by the standards of the time his work was miraculous.

From Bloomberg:
Deere & Co., the world’s largest farm-equipment maker, reported third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates. The shares fell after it forecast weaker demand in Western Europe.
Net income climbed to $617 million, or $1.44 a share, in the three months through July, from $420 million, or 99 cents, a year earlier, the Moline, Illinois-based company said in a statement today. The average estimate of 17 analysts in a Bloomberg survey was for profit excluding some items of $1.22.

Deere, led by Chief Executive Officer Sam Allen, said full- year sales will rise 5 to 10 percent in the U.S. and Canada on “solid” commodity prices while Western Europe industry sales will fall as much as 20 percent.
“While the company’s guidance looks a tad light relative to expectations, this is a conservative management team and is probably trying to set a reasonable bar to exceed,” Joel Levington, managing director of corporate credit at New York- based Brookfield Investment Management Inc., said in an e-mail....MORE 
From Dow Jones via NASDAQ:

Deere 3Q Profit Jumps, Helped By 'Strong' Demand; Shares Down
Deere & Co.'s (DE) fiscal third-quarter earnings jumped 47%, handily topping Wall Street's forecasts, as the company's sales and margins improved amid what the company called "strong" demand for its big farm machinery.

Deere also said it expects equipment sales to be up about 32% in the fourth quarter from year-earlier levels, and it projected earnings of about $375 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected $385 million. The company also sees sales for the year near the midpoint of prior projections.

Chairman and Chief Executive Samuel Allen exercised caution, saying, "While we have benefited from positive conditions in the U.S. farm sector, particularly in terms of demand for large equipment, European markets are down sharply. Demand for construction and forestry equipment is improved from last year but still remains far below normal levels."

Deere shares fell 1.8% to $65.99 premarket as the quarter's equipment sales rose less than expected. As of Tuesday's close, the stock had risen 49% in the past year....MORE