Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) stock was flat in premarket trade Friday after the world’s biggest tractor maker, reported fiscal first-quarter profit that trailed estimates by analysts despite a solid revenue beat.
Deere posted fiscal first quarter January 2019 earnings of $1.54 per share on revenue of $8 billion. The consensus earnings estimate was $1.80 per share on revenue of $6.9 billion. Revenue grew 15.5% on a year-over-year basis.
READ: Deere & Company stock lurches after fiscal 4Q earnings miss on revenue beat
Shares in the Moline, Illinois-based company were down 1.18% to $160.50 before the opening bell.
The company affirmed its annual forecast while citing “unsettled conditions in some of our key markets.” Due to steel tariffs, the trade war is increasing the costs of making some equipment, making them less competitive.
“Although Deere has continued to make solid progress on a number of fronts and reported higher earnings for the quarter, our results were hurt by higher costs for raw materials and logistics as well by customer concerns over tariffs and trade policies,” Deere CEO Samuel Allen said in a statement.
In 2019, Deere said it sees group sales rising 7%, with equipment sales rising by a similar percentage, taking net income to around $3.6 billion. Both figures match the company's guidance from late November.
Deere is a component in the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index, the world’s first benchmark index to track companies that focus on robotics, automation and artificial intelligence.
Deere is an unconventional automation play in the ROBO Global benchmark index since 60% of its iconic yellow and green tractors have autonomous mobility capabilities.
ROBO Global provides its expertise to the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (NYSEARCA:ROBO), which gained 2.9% to $37.54.
Contact Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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