Deere Profit Tops Analysts’ Estimates as Farm Income Climbs
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Deere & Co., the world’s largest farm-equipment maker, reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit and forecast 2012 earnings that topped analysts’ estimates as U.S. farmers flush with cash buy more tractors and combines.
Net income rose 46 percent to $669.6 million, or $1.62 a share, in the quarter ended Oct. 31, from $457.2 million, or $1.07, a year earlier, Moline, Illinois-based Deere said today in a statement. Analysts projected per-share profit of $1.44, the average of 15 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales climbed 20 percent to $8.61 billion from $7.2 billion.