Investing.com - Agricultural machinery giant Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) reported weak fiscal fourth quarter earnings and revenue ahead of Wednesday's opening bell, sending its shares lower in pre-market trade.
Deere said earnings per share came in at $1.83 in the fiscal fourth quarter ended October 31, surpassing expectations for earnings of $1.57 per share. Earnings totaled $2.11 per share for the same period of 2013.
Worldwide net sales and revenues decreased 5% to $8.965 billion for the fourth quarter and were down 5% to $36.067 billion for the full year.
Net sales of the equipment operations were $8.043 billion for the quarter and $32.961 billion for the year, compared with $8.624 billion and $34.998 billion for the same periods in 2013.
Net sales of the worldwide equipment operations declined 7% for the quarter and decreased 6% for the year compared with the same periods in 2013.
"John Deere has completed another year of solid performance in spite of weaker conditions in the global farm sector, which caused sales and earnings to decline from the record totals of 2013," said Samuel R. Allen, chairman and chief executive officer.
He added that, "The slowdown has been most pronounced in the sale of large farm machinery, including many of our most profitable models."
Company equipment sales are projected to decrease about 15% for fiscal 2015 and to be down about 21% for the first quarter compared with year-ago periods. For fiscal 2015, net income attributable to Deere & Company is anticipated to be about $1.9 billion.
Following the release of the report, Deere (NYSE:DE) shares fell 2.6% in pre-market trade.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. equity markets was mildly higher. The Dow futures pointed to a gain of 0.1% at the open, the S&P 500 futures indicated an increase of 0.1%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a gain of 0.1%.