Profits and sales down, but Deere stock surges as it beats estimates
Deere & Co. shares surged 6 percent in premarket trading today after the company blew past profit and sales estimates for its fiscal fourth quarter, MarketWatch reported. The Moline, Ill.-based company said it had net income of $351 million, or $1.08 a share, in the quarter which ended Oct. 31, down from $649 million, or $1.83 a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales fell 25 percent to $6.7 billion. The FactSet consensus was for earnings per share of 75 cents and sales of $6 billion. The company said it now expects equipment sales to fall about 7 percent in fiscal 2016 and to be down about 11 percent in the first quarter. “Although our forecast calls for lower results in the year ahead, the outlook represents a level of performance that is considerably better than we have experienced in previous downturns,” CEO Samuel Allen said in a statement.