Here's a Company That's Charging Ahead

Deere (NYSE: DE) is one company that's certainly impressing me lately. After telling you how bullish I am on this industrial powerhouse, I just sat back and soaked in the joy when Deere's solid fourth-quarter numbers proudly plowed over Street estimates.

Many things about this company -- from its performance to growth moves -- look impressive. Let's look at the latest news to see why Deere could be worth your money.

Way to go!
By delivering yet another record quarter, Deere dispelled doubts about weakening equipment demand and economic growth. Its bottom line climbed an impressive 46% from the year-ago period to $670 million. This came on the back of solid revenue growth of 20% to $8.6 billion.

Most of this revenue increase was due to higher equipment sales volumes, while prices contributed just 3%. It shows how robust the demand is for Deere's equipment. Sales in Deere's largest segment, agriculture and turf, climbed 18%, while its construction business sales grew 34% over last year.

Being a global agricultural play, Deere is thus making the most of the agriculture boom. Its expansion plans are also directed toward lucrative markets.

Making it big
Markets outside the U.S. have been significant drivers of Deere's revenues. In its third quarter, equipment sales outside the U.S. and Canada shot up 31% from a year ago. Considering this, Deere's focus on expansion in markets outside the U.S. is indeed a smart move.

This year, apart from several new products, Deere announced plans for six new factories -- all in the emerging markets of China, Brazil, and India. What's interesting here is the attention Deere is paying to Brazil now.

After establishing its agriculture and forestry equipment business there, Deere is now tapping the high-potential Brazilian construction market. It will start building two new construction factories in Sao Paulo next year to manufacture loaders and excavators.

The entire industry has been caught by the storm of rapid growth in the emerging markets, and the latest hot spot is Brazil.

Take the case of crane maker Manitowoc (NYSE: MTW). After significant investments in China and India, it is now building a manufacturing facility in Brazil to tap infrastructure opportunities in Latin America. Terex (NYSE: TEX), too, agreed to acquire a controlling interest in Ritz do Brazil, a Brazil-based equipment maker recently. It is also expanding in other markets such as Russia, something that Deere is doing, too.

Cummins (NYSE: CMI) is also aggressively expanding its footprint in markets like China and India, and we all know how deeply Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is in love with the fast-growing markets.

Clearly, none of the players want to miss out on the big opportunities, and Deere has emerged as one of the leaders in the race.

The Foolish bottom line
Deere's performance is solid proof of the resilience agriculture has shown despite economic uncertainty. Robust crop prices are boosting demand for farm equipment, while the construction boom in the developing regions is fueling demand for construction equipment.

Both these factors are the backbone of Deere's strength, and they are likely to continue. Being an excellent emerging-market and agriculture play, Deere is worth every bit of attention. I like this company, and its strong performance has further strengthened my bullish views on it.

I see no reason that you shouldn't make it a part of your watchlist. Just click here to add Deere to your stock watchlist, and stay updated on its top news and analysis.