Shares of Deere & Co. DE, -1.54% fell 1% in premarket trade Friday, after the agriculture and construction equipment maker reported fiscal third-quarter revenue that topped expectations but provided a downbeat net sales growth outlook. Net income rose to $910.3 million, or $2.78 a share, from $641.8 million, or $1.97 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding a favorable net adjustment to provisional income taxes, earnings per share came to $2.59. The FactSet EPS consensus was $2.73. Total revenue grew 32% to $10.31 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $10.22 billion, as agriculture and turf growth of 18% to $6.29 billion beat the FactSet consensus of $6.15 billion and a doubling in construction and forestry to $2.99 billion topped expectations of $2.88 billion. For fiscal 2018, the company expects net sales to rise 26% from a year ago, while the FactSet consensus of $33.68 implies 30% growth. Deere affirmed its 2018 outlook for adjusted net income of $3.1 billion. The stock has declined 12% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.01% has gained 6.3%.
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