Net Sales and Revenue Jumps 19 Percent for John Deere in Fiscal First Quarter
Deere & Company reported net income of $1.224 billion for the first quarter ended January 31, 2001, or $3.87 per share compared with net income of $517 billion, or $1.63 per share for the fiscal first quarter of 2020, a 136.7-percent net income increase. Worldwide net sales and revenues increased 19 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 to $9.112 billion. Equipment operations net sales were $8.051 billion for the quarter, compared with $6.530 billion in 2020, a 23.3-percent hike.
“John Deere started 2021 on a strongly positive note,” said John C. May, chairman and CEO. “Our results were aided by outstanding performance across our business lineup and improving conditions in the farm and construction sectors. In addition, our smart industrial operating strategy is making a significant impact on the company’s results while it also helps our customers be more profitable and sustainable.”
Deere expects net income in the range of $4.6 billion to $5 billion for fiscal 2021.
"We are proud of our success executing the strategy and creating a more focused organization that can operate with greater speed and agility," May said. "As our recent performance shows, these steps are leading to improved efficiencies and helping the company target its resources and investments on areas that have the greatest impact. At the same time, even as we ramp up factory production and intensify our efforts to serve customers, we are mindful of the continuing challenges associated with the global pandemic. We remain committed, above all else, to safeguarding the health and well-being of our employees."
Construction and forestry sales moved higher for the quarter primarily because of higher shipment volumes, price realization, and the favorable effects of currency translation. Additionally, the Wirtgen operation’s one-month reporting lag was eliminated resulting in four months of Wirtgen activity in the quarter. Operating profit increased mainly because of higher shipment volumes, plus sales mix and price realization. The increase in profit was partially offset by impairments of long-lived assets and higher production costs. Results last year also included voluntary employee-separation costs.
Net sales in the Construction & Forestry Division were $2.467 billion, compared to $2.044 billion in the fiscal first quarter of 2020, a 20.7-percent increase.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.