Deere & Company Investor Relations Material

Founded in 1837 by the blacksmith John Deere, Deere & Company, and their signature green tractors, is one of the oldest manufacturing companies in the S&P 500. Deere is primarily known for its farming equipment - harvesters and combines - but has broadened its product portfolio with construction machinery, electric charging infrastructure, forest machines, snowmobiles, and software solutions, through an array of different brands.

Like the rest of society, the farming industry is being digitized at a fast pace, with Deere leading the way through things like autonomous combines working 24/7 and crop surveillance technology leveraging machine learning to improve production.

One very interesting example of the software side of Deere’s business is their product See & Spray, which uses cameras and artificial intelligence to calculate the amount of herbicide needed on each plant:

Deere has endured healthy growth and a solid margin expansion ever since the Great Financial Crisis, and the company expects this expansion to continue, as their current goal is to achieve 20 percent through-cycle margins by 2030. Competition-wise, Deere’s main competitors are Komatsu, CNH Industrial, and Caterpillar Inc.