Shares of Deere Post Gains a Day After Reporting Strong 1st-Quarter Results
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Deere & Co., the world's largest farm equipment company, rose Thursday, a day after reporting fiscal first-quarter results that beat Wall Street predictions.
Deere shares rose as much as $2.25, or 2.6 percent, to $87.79, before falling back to close up 80 cents at $86.34. Over the past 52 weeks, the company's shares have traded between $51.59 and $94.76.
The company said its sales outside of North America jumped 37 percent during the quarter, boosted by rising global crop prices and the decline in the U.S. dollar. It also boosted its fiscal 2008 guidance.
But Deere also issued a fiscal second-quarter profit prediction below average analysts' estimates, sending its shares down 94 cents to $85.54 on Wednesday.
Banc of America Securities analyst Seth R. Weber backed his "Buy" rating for the company and boosted his price target by $1 to $94, saying that the company's increased profit expectations for 2008 show that the global agricultural cycle should remain strong.
"We expect rising farm income, high crop prices, low global crop inventories, and bio-fuel-related crop demand to support farm equipment demand in 2008, with a ramp up in large machines particularly favorable for Deere," Weber wrote in a note to investors.
The analyst said he expects Deere shares to continue to rise as a result of improving global agriculture industry fundamentals and the company's top position in the farm equipment industry.
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