Deere Sees Solid 2021 Profit Growth

By Matt Grossman

Deere & Co. Friday posted a forecast for strong year-over-year profit growth in the 2021 fiscal year, expressing an outlook for higher industry sales in agriculture, construction and forestry this year.

The Moline, Ill.-based maker of agricultural and construction equipment forecast full-year net income attributable to the company of $4.6 billion to $5 billion. Net income attributable to the company in the 2020 fiscal year was $2.75 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been forecasting full-year net income of $4.14 billion in 2021.

Deere forecast full-year production and precision-agriculture sales of $15.5 billion to $16.5 billion, sales in the small agriculture and turf segment of $10.5 billion to $11.5 billion, and construction and forestry sales of $10.5 billion to $11 billion.

The company's industry outlook sees the large-agriculture sector improving by 15% to 20% year over year in the U.S. and Canada, with small agriculture improving by roughly 5%. The U.S. and Canada construction-equipment sector will rise by roughly 5%, while global forestry sales will rise by 5% to 10%, Deere forecast.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2021 07:04 ET (12:04 GMT)

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