Shares of Deere & Co.
DE,
-3.40%
rose 0.3% in premarket trading Friday, after the construction, agriculture and turf care equipment maker reported fiscal third-quarter profit that more than doubled and was well above expectations, and raised its full-year net income outlook. Net income rose to $1.67 billion, or $5.32 a share, from $811 million, or $2.57 a share, in the year-ago period. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $4.58. Revenue grew 29.2% to $11.53 billion, well above the FactSet consensus of $10.30 billion, as production and precision agriculture sales rose less than forecast but small agriculture and turf and construction and forestry sales increased more than expected. "Our strong results, driven by essentially all product categories, are a testament to the exceptional efforts of our employees and dealers to keep our factories running and customers served while enduring significant supply-chain pressures," said Chief Executive John May. The company raised its 2021 guidance range for net income to $5.7 billion to $5.9 billion from $5.3 billion to $5.7 billion, said it expected demand for farm and construction equipment to continue to benefit from favorable fundamentals. Deere's stock has run up 33.4% year to date through Thursday, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.13%
has gained 17.3%.