By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) are trading more than 3% higher in pre-open Friday after the company reported better-than-expected FQ1 results and raised its full-year forecast.
Deere posted EPS of $6.55 on revenue of $12.65 billion, beating the average analyst consensus for earnings of $5.53 per share on revenue of $11.4B. Overall, revenue increased by 34% year-over-year as the company's biggest unit - Production and Precision Agriculture - saw its revenue jump by 55% YoY.
"Deere's first-quarter performance is a reflection of favorable market fundamentals and healthy demand for our equipment as well as solid execution on the part of our employees, dealers, and suppliers to get products to our customers," said John C. May, chairman and chief executive officer. "We are, at the same time, benefiting from an improved operating environment, which is contributing to higher levels of production."
Net income for the quarter came in at $1.96B, easily ahead of the $1.66B consensus and prompting the company to increase its full-year forecast. For 2023, DE sees net income in the range of $8.75-9.25B from the prior range of $8-8.5B.
Production & Precision Agriculture sales are expected to grow 20%, up from the prior guidance of +15-20%.
"Deere is looking forward to another strong year on the basis of positive fundamentals, low machine inventories, and a continuation of solid execution," May added.