News

Deere & Company income down for the year, up for the fourth quarter

Deere and Company sales and income are down for the fiscal year, but both are higher for the just-ended fourth quarter, compared to a year ago. Deere’s income for fiscal 2020 was $2.751 billion compared to $3.253 in fiscal 2019. On the other hand, the equipment maker’s income for the fourth quarter was $757 million, beating Q4 of 2019 by $35 million, according to news release from the company.

Worldwide, Deere and Company’s net sales and revenues decreased 2 percent, to $9.731 billion, for the fourth quarter of 2020 and declined 9 percent, to $35.540 billion, for the full year. Equipment operations net sales were $8.659 billion for the quarter and $31.272 billion for the year, compared with corresponding totals of $8.703 billion and $34.886 billion in 2019, the news release said.

Deere CEO John C. May called the company’s performance strong despite the pandemic. Better days are ahead, according to May.

“Higher crop prices and improved fundamentals are leading to renewed optimism in the agricultural sector and improving demand for farm equipment,” said May, quoted in the company news release.

Deere’s forecast for 2021 income is in a range of $3.6 billion to $4.0 billion.