Deere Out-Leaps a Bad Economy

The just-completed earnings season has been a surprisingly solid one for many major corporations. For instance, given the state of the economy, bellwethers like DuPont (NYSE: DD  ) , Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW  ) , and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT  ) all chalked up relatively strong quarters. And now, because of its fiscal year ending Oct. 31, Deere (NYSE: DE  ) appropriately put the final bow on the season.

For the quarter, the company recorded a loss of $223 million, or $0.53 per share, compared with net income of $345 million, or $0.81 a share, during the same quarter a year ago. But if you back out a bevy of one-time items -- such as goodwill impairment charges and voluntary employee-separation expenses -- the company would have presented us with quarterly earnings of $99.0 million, or $0.23 per share, a full $0.20 a share ahead of the analysts' consensus.

Looking at Deere's individual units, the Agriculture & Turf portion of the Equipment Division saw its sales dip by 26%, leading to an operating loss of $24 million for the quarter, versus a profit of $460 million a year ago. As you undoubtedly suspect, the quarterly slide was at least partially a result of conservative approaches among farmers to their equipment purchases during the current period of economic softness.

The Construction & Forestry unit experienced a 47% reduction in year-over-year sales for the quarter. It nevertheless managed to achieve a $2 million operating profit for the quarter, versus $89 million in income in the comparable quarter a year ago. Obviously, much of the year-over-year difference was attributable to the current construction slowdown.

But investing involves looking to the future, and for the full year 2010, management expects its equipment sales to be down about 10% for the first quarter and to slowly recover to finish down about 1% for the year. All in all, the guidance is that net income for the year will be about $900 million, with an expected $400 million increase in pension costs dragging on earnings.

Not all U.S.-based equipment manufacturers matched the performances of Deere and Caterpillar. For instance, neither Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW  ) nor Terex (NYSE: TEX  ) set the world on fire. But then, does Deere, the world’s leading seller of farm equipment, really have a full-scale competitor that goes toe-to-toe in that space? I think not, and I suggest Fools watch this solid company's steady recovery.

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