Deere & Co. (DE) Tops Q4 EPS Views; Issues Confident FY17 Outlook

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) reported Q4 EPS of $0.90, $0.50 better than the analyst estimate of $0.40. Revenue for the quarter came in at $6.52 billion versus the consensus estimate of $5.38 billion.

Company Outlook & Summary

Company equipment sales are projected to decrease about 1 percent for fiscal 2017 and be down about 4 percent for the first quarter compared with the same periods of 2016. Included in the forecast is a positive foreign-currency translation effect of about 1 percent for the year and about 2 percent for the first quarter. Net sales and revenues are projected to decrease about 1 percent for fiscal 2017 (to about $23.86 billion), while net income attributable to Deere & Company is anticipated to be about $1.4 billion. (NOTE: The Street sees $1.2 billion of net income and $22.72 billion of revenue for FY17.)

During the fourth quarter of 2016, the company announced voluntary employee-separation programs as part of its effort to reduce operating costs. The expense of these programs is recorded in the period in which employees accept their separation offer. Total pretax expenses related to the programs are estimated to be $116 million, of which $11 million was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2016, and $105 million will be recorded in the first quarter of 2017. Savings from the separation programs are expected to be approximately $75 million in 2017.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Deere & Co. (DE) click here.

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