- Deere (DE +2.9%) enjoys nice gains even after both its top- and bottom-line Q3 results missed estimates and the company offered an underwhelming outlook for 2019, but investors apparently were braced for something worse amid the U.S. trade slowdown with China.
- DE forecasts FY 2019 equipment sales to grow just 7% Y/Y vs. a 29% jump in FY 2018, but investors cheer projected improvements in gross margins as well as the forecast for a flat to 5% increase in industry sales of agricultural equipment next year in North America, its biggest market.
- "We would argue the FY19 guidance big picture is better than headlines imply," Baird analysts say.
- Baird's Mig Dobre rates the stock at Outperform with a $165 price target, and notes "any positive developments on trade down the line could provide potential upside."
- CFRA's Elizabeth Vermillion reiterates her Hold rating and $158 price target on DE shares, seeing FY 2019 sales growth of 10% on equipment sales growth of 7%, "aided by an ongoing replacement cycle for machinery despite global trade tension."
- Now read: Deere & Company 2018 Q4 - Results - Earnings Call Slides
Original article