The nation’s green tractor company didn’t do as well as it had hoped in the first fiscal quarter of the year, but saw some reasons for optimism in the earnings information presented last week. Deere & Company’s first quarter — ending January 27 — netted the company $498.5 million, a changing of fortunes from the $535.1 million net loss in last year’s Q1. But the company fell slightly short of earnings expectations; Per-share values ended at $1.54, short of the trade estimates between $1.76 and $1.77. In a release, Samuel Allen, the company’s chairman and CEO, cited “higher costs for raw materials and logistics as well as customer concerns over tariffs and trade policies” as rationale for the lower-than-expected earnings. Allen noted solid construction and forestry equipment sales and stabilized cost pressures make the company “cautiously optimistic about our prospects for the year ahead.” Agriculture and turf equipment sales increased for the quarter, but those gains were “partially offset by the unfavorable effects of currency translation and higher warranty-related expenses,” the company said.
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