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Deere came in hotter than expected
Deere rolled out a better-than-expected second quarter, and the numbers were solid enough to make Wall Street sit up straight. Earnings came in at $5.10 a share, ahead of the $4.70 estimate, while revenue rose 5% to $12.608 billion and also beat forecasts.
The bigger story: management got more optimistic
This wasn’t just a nice quarter; Deere also raised its fiscal 2026 net income outlook to $4.75 billion-$5 billion. The company is still seeing the agricultural equipment cycle soften, but CEO John C. May basically told investors the worst may be behind them. That’s a pretty helpful sentence when you’re trying to convince the market that tractors aren’t stuck in reverse.
Analysts took the hint
The earnings beat and improved guidance gave analysts a reason to sharpen their pencils:
- Baird kept a Neutral rating and lifted its price target from $525 to $640.
- Oppenheimer kept Outperform and nudged its target from $680 to $685.
For investors, that matters because analyst upgrades and target hikes can act like a second gust of wind after earnings. When a company beats, raises guidance, and gets a thumbs-up from the street, the stock usually has an easier time holding onto gains.
Big picture
Deere’s story right now is less "blazing growth" and more "the cycle may be finding a floor." If that’s right, the market may start treating the stock like a turnaround setup instead of a headwind story.