Deere posts 52% rise in earnings

Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. reported a 52% increase in fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday on surging demand for tractors and combines worldwide, walloping Wall Street’s expectations.

Earnings shot to $422.1 million, or $1.88 a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31, from $277.3 million, or $1.20 a share, in the previous year. That easily exceeded the $1.55-a-share average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Deere said the strong agricultural sales enabled it to overcome declines in other sectors affected by the U.S. housing slump. The Moline, Ill., company also makes construction and forestry equipment such as backhoes, excavators, riding mowers and leaf blowers.

Shares jumped $7.06 to $152.06.