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Shares of the world's largest farm equipment
maker fell 4 percent to $84.25 in premarket trading on
Wednesday.
Deere, which also makes construction equipment, said it expected
its overall machinery sales to fall about 21 percent in the
quarter ending Jan. 31.
"The slowdown has been most pronounced in the sale of large farm
machinery, including many of our most profitable models," Chief
Executive Samuel Allen said in a statement.
Deere's sales have been hit as bumper corn harvests drive down
prices, leaving farmers with less cash to spend on new
equipment. Corn prices have fallen about 11 percent this year,
on top of a decline of nearly 40 percent last year.
The Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday that falling grain
prices and rising costs would drag down 2014 U.S. farm sector
profits to their lowest since 2010.
Net income attributable to Deere fell to $649.2 million, or
$1.83 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Oct. 31, from
$806.8 million, or $2.11 per share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell 5 percent to $8.97 billion.
Up to Tuesday's close, Deere's shares had risen about 5 percent
in the past year, compared with a 14 percent rise in the S&P 500
index <.SPX>.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bangalore; Editing by
Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Ted Kerr)
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