Deere & Company Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
May 15, 2025
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Operator

Good morning, and welcome to Deere and Company Second Quarter Earnings Conference Call. Your lines have been placed on listen only until the question and answer session of today's conference. I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Josh Beale, Director of Investor Relations. Thank you.

Operator

You may begin.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Hello. Welcome and thank you for joining us on today's call. Joining me on the call today are John May, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Josh Jepsen, Chief Financial Officer and Josh Rohlitter, Manager Investor Communications. Today, we'll take a closer look at Deere's second quarter earnings and spend some time talking about our markets and our current outlook for fiscal twenty twenty five. After that, we'll respond to your questions.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Please note that slides are available to complement the call this morning. They can be accessed on our website at johndeere.com/earnings. First a reminder, this call is broadcast live on the Internet and recorded for future transmission and use by Deere and Company. Any other use, recording or transmission of any portion of this copyrighted broadcast without the express written consent of Deere is strictly prohibited. Participants in the call, including the Q and A session, agree that their likeness and remarks in all media may be stored and used as part of the earnings call.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

This call includes forward looking statements concerning the company's plans and projections for the future that are subject to uncertainties, risks, changes in circumstances and other factors that are difficult to predict. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially is contained in the company's most recent Form eight ks, risk factors in the annual Form 10 ks as updated by reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This call may also include financial measures that are not in conformance with accounting principles generally accepted in The United States Of America, GAAP. Additional information concerning these measures, including reconciliations to comparable GAAP measures, is included in the release and posted on our website at johndeere.com/earnings under Quarterly Earnings and Events. I will now turn the call over to John May for opening comments before we begin with our formal remarks.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. This quarter was marked by historic levels of volatility and significant uncertainty across our end markets, given the dynamic global trade backdrop. During times like this, it's important to reflect on and reaffirm our core values and the priorities that drive our teams at John Deere every day, which we've noted on slide three of our presentation. Doing so helps us maintain our focus and resilience, providing a stable foundation that guides our decision making and actions. Everything that we do at John Deere starts with our customers, who provide food, fuel, clothing, shelter and infrastructure for the world.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

We're honored to have served them for nearly two hundred years, and we will continue to do so for the next two hundred. In times of uncertainty, we must remain steadfast in this commitment. Practically speaking, this means being deliberate in every action and keeping customers at the forefront of every decision. We'll continue to honor our commitments from agreed upon prices to delivering the highest level of uptime and reliability expected from our products. It's in times like these that we have the opportunity to foster new and strengthen existing customer relationships that end up enduring for generations.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

Our second priority is our commitment to executing our plan, which involves taking actions to navigate more uncertain markets, while also maintaining investments in value unlocking products and solutions. Our commitment to our smart industrial strategy remains unwavering. The opportunity to make our customers more productive, profitable, and sustainable is tremendous, and we never lose sight of that. In the near term, we'll continue to proactively manage what we can control, cost, production, inventory and quality to navigate this environment, while driving the margins that fuel our investments in the future. Our performance this quarter is a powerful testament to the results that come from this approach.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

On that note, I'd like to commend our teams for the excellent results they delivered this quarter despite the difficult macro environment we were facing. Finally, I'd like to reaffirm our investment in the future, a future rooted in innovation that began nearly two centuries ago in a blacksmith shop in Grand Detour, Illinois. Today, that innovative spirit continues with Smart Industrial, our strategy that combines investment in advanced technology with our legacy of manufacturing excellence. We're proud of our storied U. S.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

History. And with nearly 80% of our U. S. Sales and 25% of our international sales built right here in U. S.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

Manufacturing locations. We stand by and continue to embrace our American manufacturing heritage as we deliver value for our customers around the world. Smart Industrial unlocks value through the integration of cutting edge technology with premium hard iron equipment. We will continue to robustly invest capital and R and D to bring these integrated solutions to market, enhancing our global competitiveness. I'm proud that this innovative work will build on our American roots, and we are prepared to invest $20,000,000,000 in The U.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

S. Over the next decade as we spearhead new product development, cutting edge technologies and more advanced manufacturing. These strategic investments are an opportunity to further leverage an already broad base of U. S. Assets that include over 60 facilities across 16 states, supported by a highly skilled workforce that has built John Deere into the iconic brand it is today.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

As we look forward, we're more excited than ever about the opportunities ahead and our ability to drive unparalleled value for our customers worldwide by leveraging our rich heritage. It's a testament to our dedication to innovation, excellence and our customers' success.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Thanks, John. We'll now proceed with our remarks on the quarter. John Deere delivered a better than expected second quarter with an 18.8% margin for the equipment operations, demonstrating exceptional execution amidst challenging market dynamics.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Notably, margins exceeded projections despite tariff headwinds due to better than expected sales and favorable production costs stemming from efficiency gains in our material sourcing and factory operations. However, as we look to the second half of the year, global uncertainty continues to weigh on customer sentiment across end markets. And while the top end of our fiscal twenty twenty five outlook remains relatively unchanged from prior guidance, a fluid tariff environment has led us to broaden our guidance range as we actively work to mitigate impacts to both our customers and beer. Slide four opens with our results for the second quarter. Net sales and revenues were down 16% to $12,763,000,000 while net sales for the equipment operations were down 18% to 11,171,000,000.000 Net income attributable to Gearing Company was $1,804,000,000 or $6.64 per diluted share.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Turning to our individual segments, we begin with the Production and Precision Ag business on slide five. Net sales of $5,230,000,000 were down 21% compared to the second quarter last year, primarily due to lower shipment volumes. Price realization was positive by just under one point. Currency translation was negative by roughly two points. Operating profit was $1,148,000,000 resulting in a 22% operating margin for the segment.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

The year over year decrease was primarily due to lower shipment volumes and an unfavorable sales mix, coupled with the negative effects of foreign currency exchange. These headwinds were partially offset by lower production costs and price realization. Moving now to Small Ag and Turf on slide six. Net sales were down 6%, totaling $2,994,000,000 in the second quarter as a result of lower shipment volumes, partially offset by price realization. Price realization was positive by just under one point.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Currency translation was negative by roughly zero five point. Operating profit was approximately flat year over year at $574,000,000 resulting in a 19.2% operating margin. Lower production costs, lower warranty expenses and price realization were offset by lower shipment volumes and an unfavorable sales mix. Slide seven gives our industry outlook for ag and turf markets globally. We continue to expect large ag equipment industry sales in The U.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

S. And Canada to be down approximately 30% due to pressures from high interest rates, elevated late model use inventory levels and trade uncertainty. These headwinds are slightly mitigated by stable crop prices given tighter global stocks and bolstered farm balance sheets strengthened by the distribution of government funds. For small ag and turf in The U. S.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

And Canada, industry demand is now expected to be down between 1015%. While the dairy and livestock segment remains at historically strong levels of profitability and certain high value crops like almonds returned to profitability, equipment purchases remained subdued due to prevailing uncertainties and elevated costs. Demand has been further restrained by deterioration in turf and compact utility tractor sales due to consumer confidence and high interest rates weighing on purchase decisions. Moving to Europe, the industry is still projected to decrease approximately 5%. Sentiment in the region is trending higher given strong dairy and livestock margins and an improving arable outlook.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Stabilized commodity prices and input costs along with improving interest rate environment should provide more planning certainty despite the low average yields in key markets. In South America, industry sales forecast for tractors and combines remain roughly flat. In Brazil, sentiment continues to improve as crop yields recover and corn and soybean profitability returns. Additionally, continued high margins in coffee production are driving increased demand for small and midsized tractors. However, record crop production levels are likely to put pressure on commodity prices, capping overall growth in farm profitability for the region, while high interest rates continue to temper demand.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Industry sales in Asia are now projected to be flat as the outlook for tractor sales in India improves, supported by favorable growing conditions, steady crop acreage and increased availability for agricultural credit. Next, our segment forecasts begin on slide eight. For Production and Precision Ag, our net sales forecast for the full year remains down between 1520%. The forecast now assumes roughly a point of positive price realization for the full year offset by 1.5 points of negative currency translation. Our full year forecast for this segment's operating margin is now between 15.517%, primarily due to tariff impacts.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Slide nine shows our forecast for the Small Ag and Turf segment. We now expect net sales to be down between 1015%. The guide includes a zero five point of positive price realization and flat currency translation. The reduction from the prior quarter is primarily due to softening demand in The U. S.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Turf and compact utility tractor segments, partially offset by improved sales projections for midsized tractors in Europe and small tractors in India. The segment's operating margin guide is now between 11.513.5%, primarily due to tariff impact and the reduction in projected U. S. Turf and compact utility tractor shipment volumes. Shifting over to Construction and Forestry on slide 10.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Net sales for the quarter declined roughly 23% year over year to $2,947,000,000 due to lower shipment volumes. Price realization was negative by just under 1.5 points. Currency translation was also negative by roughly less than zero five point. Operating profit was down year over year at $379,000,000 resulting in a 12.9% operating margin due primarily to lower shipment volumes and an unfavorable sales mix as well as negative price realization. Slide 11 describes our construction and forestry outlook.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Industry sales projections for earthmoving equipment in The U. S. And Canada remain unchanged with construction equipment expected to be down around 10% and compact construction equipment expected to be down around five End markets continued to see high utilization as construction backlogs are steady and construction employment remains at all time highs. However, trade uncertainty and high interest rates are pressuring order activity for both construction and compact construction equipment. U.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

S. Government infrastructure spending continues to provide support to the industry. However, projections for single family housing starts are moderating given macro uncertainty and higher mortgage rates. Similarly, rental sales continue to soften while high interest rates continue to pressure multifamily and commercial real estate markets. Global forestry markets are expected to be flat to down 5% as all global markets remain challenged.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Global road building markets are forecasted to be roughly flat with continued strong end market demand globally. In particular, record sales at our Bauma trade show in April reinforced the uptick we're seeing in sentiment and demand throughout Europe. Moving on to the Construction and Forestry segment outlook on slide 12. 20 20 five net sales remain forecasted to be down between 1015%. Net sales guidance for the year includes one point of negative net price realization and flat currency translation.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

The segment's operating margin is now projected to be between 8.511.5% due primarily to tariff impacts and to a lesser degree lower price realization. Now transitioning to our financial services operations on slide 13. Worldwide Financial Services net income attributable to Deere and Company in the second quarter was 161,000,000 Net income was flat due to less favorable financing spreads and a higher provision for credit losses, which were offset by lower SA and G expenses and a reduction in derivative valuation adjustments. For fiscal year twenty twenty five, our outlook remains at $750,000,000 as benefits from a favorable compare to special items related to the sale of Banco John Deere and lower SA and G expenses are partially offset by less favorable financing spreads. And finally, slide 14 outlines our guidance for net income, effective tax rate and operating cash flow.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

For fiscal year twenty twenty five, our outlook for net income has widened to between $4,750,000,000 and $5,500,000,000 Next, our guidance incorporates an effective tax rate between 202%. And lastly, cash flow from the equipment operations remains projected between $4.5 and $5,500,000,000 This concludes our formal comments. We'll now shift to a few topics specific to the quarter before we open up the lines to questions from our investors. Let's begin our discussion with Deere's performance in the quarter. We saw net sales increase sequentially, albeit down year over year.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Additionally, margins were down roughly two points year over year, but grew sequentially to come in at just under 19% for the quarter. While there are clearly macro headwinds at play, the quarter represents strong operational performance. So Josh Biel, can you take us off with a breakdown of the quarter?

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Sure, Josh. And I think John said it best earlier.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

This quarter was about resilience through uncertainty. Despite the macro volatility, we executed a plan to achieve better than expected results across all three of our equipment operations segments. Our factories ran well, supporting higher than expected sales volumes, particularly in North American large ag. Additionally, production cost favorability was better than anticipated, reflecting our focus on driving material costs and overheads out of the business as we manage through this downturn. Also, recall that lower net sales in the first quarter reflected a shift of shipments to later in the fiscal year.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

This quarter, we saw some of those volumes materialize. Turning to Construction and Forestry. Our second quarter results reflected a return to seasonal production in line with retail demand across our earthmoving factories, which were shut down for nearly half of the first quarter as we right sized inventory levels. Sequential sales and margin improvements were partially offset by negative price realization in the quarter. However, our road building business delivered another quarter of strong margins and the stable global sales, helping support our overall division financials.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Maybe one final point on the quarter. It's important to contextualize that the equipment operations results that we delivered were net of roughly $100,000,000 in incremental tariff headwinds. All in, we feel really good about what we were able to accomplish across all divisions in Q2.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

Thanks, Josh. That's a great segue into my next question, which is probably top of mind for everyone given there's been a lot of fluctuation in trade policy over the last few months.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

As you noted, we saw roughly $100,000,000 of tariff headwinds in the second quarter. What should we expect going forward? And what have we incorporated into our guide for the rest of the year?

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Sure, Josh. As you noted, the trade environment is certainly fluid, evidenced by trade agreements and adjustments to tariff levels announced in this past week.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

We're monitoring these developments closely while concurrently planning and executing mitigation strategies. To provide context on Deere's potential tariff exposure, we provided a geographic breakdown of U. S. Complete good and component sourcing in the appendix of today's slide deck. As John noted earlier, nearly 80% of U.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

S. Complete good sales are from products built at our U. S. Manufacturing facilities, with over 75% of the components used at those facilities sourced from U. S.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Based suppliers. The majority of U. S. Completed sales sourced outside The U. S.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Are tied to midsized tractors and roll building equipment from Europe. On the component side, our primary non U. S. Sourcing is from Mexico and Europe. As it relates to our forecast, we expect a pre tax tariff impact in fiscal year twenty twenty five of just over $500,000,000 should these tariff levels continue throughout the remainder of the fiscal year.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

This forecast is based on the impact of tariffs in effect as of May 13, including the reductions in reciprocal and retaliatory tariffs between China and The United States announced earlier this week. Using this baseline assumption as a starting point, we've expanded our guidance range to account for scenarios that may evolve as the year plays out. For context on the split by business unit, we would expect 40% of the cost to impact our Construction and Forestry operations, with about 35% hitting small lag and turf and about 25 hitting production and precision ag.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

Hey, this is Justin. I'd like to quickly call out a few of the mitigation efforts we're taking to minimize the impact of tariffs on our customers, dealers and deer.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

Teams across the organization are working diligently not only to understand and quantify risks, as Josh Beal noted, but also to mitigate impacts where there are clear, executable solutions available. One example is the work we've done to certify eligible products for USMCA and ag use only exemptions for Mexico and Canada. Decertifications were not required historically as our products were generally duty free. In only a few weeks, we've been able to successfully certify completeness and components that make up the majority of the potential exposure from these countries. Additionally, our supply management team has been working to optimize our global trade flows, actively moving component sourcing where we see no regret solutions.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

Overall, our teams are doing exceptional job to position us well as we navigate the current environment. Now turning to potential price action. We don't see much opportunity for price mitigation to impact fiscal twenty twenty five given our order books for most product lines are nearly full for the remainder of the year. That being said, we're contemplating tariff impacts on our cost structure as we look to model year 2026 pricing. However, we are doing so being very mindful of the dynamic environment and the pressures our customers have had to deal with over the past few years.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

Thanks for that color, Josh and Josh. Going back to the breakdown on tariff costs by segment, can you walk us through why we're seeing such outsized impact on our CA and F business? And then more broadly, can you give us an update on market commentary and how that's impacting our guide?

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

It's a great call out Josh and an important point to clarify. I'll start by reiterating that the majority of the margin compression seen in our updated C and F guide this quarter was driven by forecasted tariff impact.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

That exposure is primarily driven by three areas. First, U. S. Sales from our road building business are exposed to the 10% global tariffs as production is located almost entirely in Germany. Second, we currently operate under supply agreement with our former JV partner for excavators, a product line that makes up roughly 40% of the earthmoving market.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

This supply agreement applies to both complete goods sourced from Japan along with Japanese sourced components for production in our North Carolina factory. It's important to note, however, that this exposure will reduce over the next few years as we begin to roll out Deere designed and U. S. Manufactured excavators. Finally, the earthmoving market is more exposed to China component sourcing than our ag business, given the robust and mature supply base for construction equipment that developed in that region over the past two decades.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Looking at the C and F industry, utilization of earthmoving equipment in our end markets remains healthy, while current uncertainty has weighed on new equipment replacement demand. Higher levels of price competition are also impacting the European first moving market, which is reflected in our revised pricing outlook for the year. It's notable though that better than expected material favorability is helping to offset some of the margin impact of the additional pricing actions that we're taking.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

This is Justin. One thing I'd like to add here relates to our road building business.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

Just this past month, we were in Munich for Bauma, the world's largest construction machinery show held every three years. This is an incredible event for our Bertkin team. Not only did we see strong sentiment and record orders, but we have the opportunity to showcase the significant strides we're making in tech advancements for the industry, including the launch of the John Operations Center for road building production systems. This was on top of the integration of John Deere engines, guidance systems and displays into road building equipment at the show. Given the significant similarities between large ag and road building in terms of repeatable jobs and precise execution to define specifications, we can extend the John Deere tech stack to Vertkin equipment to enable more digitalization, automation and ultimately value for our customers.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

This is John. It's important to highlight that the Virten tech story is exactly what we envisioned when we launched our smart industrial strategy in 2020. By focusing on the jobs that our customers do in their respective production systems, we can target our development to solve their biggest pain points. Combining that focus with a centralized tech stack, which makes leveraging technology across production systems easier and more efficient, we can bring value accretive solutions to our customers faster and with greater impact and better capital allocation.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

Thanks, John.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

It's really exciting to watch as our tech stack expands beyond just our large ag business. Turning now to ag. I'd like to start with farm fundamentals. So Josh Field, can you walk us through what our farmers are experiencing as well as what that means for deer in the back half of the year?

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Yeah, sure thing Josh.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Trade uncertainty is having an impact on customer sentiment, creating a headwind for the market. However, crop prices have generally stabilized, albeit at lower profitability levels due to tight stocks driven by better than expected consumption and lower than expected crop production. Notably, excluding China stock, global grain and oilseed stocks to use ratios are roughly at twenty year lows. Additionally, input costs have fallen for a third consecutive year, though they remain above long term averages. Finally, nearly 75% of the $10,000,000,000 in direct U.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

S. Government payments under the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program have been distributed, providing American farmers with liquidity following a challenging twenty twenty four-twenty twenty five crop year. And so, when excluding tariffs, we've seen some stabilization in the North American ag market, which offers some reassurance should uncertainty levels abate over the course of the year.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

It's also worth noting that as we saw with the trade deal announced last week with The UK, ag commodities and ag based energy are at the forefront of the U. S.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Administration's trade policy agenda. Additional demand and market access for U. S. Producers is positive and incremental demand may drive improved prices based on the tight stocks to use ratios that Josh mentioned.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Good point, Josh.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Shifting to global markets, we are continuing to see early signs of sentiment shift in South America as Brazilian farmers benefit from improved corn and soybean profitability as crop yields recover amid a weakened real. While European markets remain at sub trough levels, we're seeing some green shoots in that region as well. European growers are seeing stability in wheat prices, which along with a return to trend yields should support a recovery in key arable crop markets alongside an already strong dairy and livestock segment. Turning to order books, availability for both North American produced large tractors and European produced mid tractors is into October. And in Brazil, our order books are full through the third quarter.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

It's worth noting that we have less order visibility in turf equipment and compact utility tractors. The reduction in our small ag and turf guide embeds lower demand in these markets, driven by weaker consumer confidence.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

Perfect. Thanks, Josh. Shifting to inventory, can you unpack what we're seeing over the last quarter for both new and used?

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

Yeah, absolutely. The current focus for Deere is centered on used inventory in North America, as actions we took over the prior eighteen months helped to rightsize new inventory levels in The U. S. And globally. For example, in North America, our new inventory for tractors above two twenty horsepower is down over 40% year over year on a unit basis, while new combines are down nearly 25%.

Josh Beal
Josh Beal
Director of Investor Relations at Deere & Company

The story is a little bit different for used inventory, where a higher than normal mix of late model year tractors continues to persist in the North American market. While Deere used high horsepower tractors were up slightly quarter over quarter, it's important to call out the seasonal build and use that occurs as pre planting deliveries of new equipment drive a higher level of trade in. Despite the seasonal increase, we feel confident in our plan to reduce new stacker inventories, as we've seen the impact of similar actions reduce combine inventory by nearly double digits year over year to below the ten year average. Notably in combine, late model year equipment has declined more significantly than other vintages, helping return used combines to a more normal distribution of equipment age. Through increased contributions to pool funds for dealer development, new financing options that support customer purchases and make incentive dollars go further, and our dealer network working with every customer to understand their individual needs, we're executing our plan to drive down used inventories.

John May
John May
Chairman & CEO at Deere & Company

This is John. It's worth emphasizing that we are tightly aligned with our channel and our focus on rightsizing that secondary market that Josh referred to. We have the best dealers in the industry and together we're taking the actions needed to bring down tractor inventories. I'm confident that our approach will yield results. And I'm appreciative of our dealers for their support in this effort.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

Thanks, John and Josh. Continuing with large ag, 2025 represents a major milestone in our tech journey as we not only announced the commercialization of autonomous tillage in model year 2026, but we're also lapping the first year cohort of tech offerings like CN Spray and Precision Essentials. Can you give us an update on the latest progress across our precision ag solutions?

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Absolutely, Josh. And I think it's important to frame this across three areas: capabilities, adoption and utilization.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

I'll start with capabilities, which is a part of this tech journey that we don't speak about enough and is underappreciated in terms of its importance. Capabilities are the foundational building blocks, primarily internal to Deere and our dealers that ensure our customers are maximizing the value of our technology in a seamless and easy to access manner. We've been investing in these capabilities for the last several years and are now beginning to see their benefits come to fruition. For example, we've implemented and scaled a license management system integrated with the Jinder Operations Center to handle hundreds of thousands of licenses, enhancing the customer experience for purchasing and renewing solutions. We've also built out a customer success function that helps ensure our customers are getting the most out of our technologies.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

For example, this spring season, we're using automated intervention to ensure that customers are realizing the full value of Sea and Spray in the field. Our channels align with us in this work, as our dealers are also investing in capabilities through connected support and precision ag specialist roles that support customers as they integrate new solutions and technologies into their operation. These capabilities are a foundational platform that will continue to build as we progress on our smart industrial journey. Turning to adoption, we're seeing continued growth in customers choosing precision tech as we expand our suite of offerings and bring them into more geographies across the globe. Furthermore, for many of these technologies, our solutions as a service business model makes tech more affordable, accessible, and adaptable for our customers.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

A perfect example is Precision Essentials. In 2025, we're seeing greater adoption as we expand this solution to additional markets. In fact, in the first half of this fiscal year, we've already received nearly 10,000 orders globally, exceeding the entire fiscal twenty twenty four order count in just six months. Brazil alone accounts for over 3,500 of those twenty twenty five orders and we're seeing strong order activity in North America and Europe as well. Going forward, success for this and other subscription based technologies will depend heavily on our ability to drive license renewals year over year.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

2025 marks our first year of renewals for the 2024 Precision Essentials cohort, where we have a year one goal of 70% renewal. Nearly two thirds of eligible machines have renewed thus far and we expect that to increase as we continue to engage with our customers in the renewal process. Finally, the best way to enable technology growth is through utilization. Continued growth in the number of acres covered by Deere's precision offerings is the best indicator that customers are seeing value in the technology and will continue to use it season after season. We're encouraged by the momentum we're seeing in utilization of See and Spray.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

As you'll recall, in 2024, we had a few hundred See and Spray units running in North America, with those units ultimately covering 1,000,000 acres during last year's spraying season. In 2025, we have over 1,000 new orders for See and Spray, which significantly increases the population of machines that we'll be running this year. It's worth highlighting for the customers that ran Sea and Spray in 2024, we're seeing greater utilization on the same machines in the 2025 season and those same customers have invested in more Sea and Spray units this year. Effectively, what we're seeing is a compounding effect, more units with more utilization across more farms. The combination of capabilities, adoption and utilization is continuing to drive more depth and breadth of engagement with Deere Precision Technologies across the world.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Digital engagement is a great proof point for this, represented by the utilization growth we're seeing in the John Deere Operations Center. Year over year, engaged acres grew by nearly 15% to just over four seventy five million acres, while highly engaged acres grew by over 25% and now represent nearly 30% of total engaged acres. We are encouraged by the trend lines we're seeing as these numbers validate not only the effectiveness of our technology, but also the strategy by which we are bringing them to market.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

This is Justin. One point to add here, which we increasingly talk about is the opportunity to extend these technologies to our Brazilian customers, who are in many cases just beginning their tech journey.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

In fact, earlier this month, we had our largest product introduction to date at Brazil's AGRA Show. Given this immense opportunity and our commitment to investing in Brazil for Brazil, we are also excited to announce our Brazil Investor Day on June 10 in Indiatuba at our recently opened R and D center. As we celebrate our twenty fifth anniversary in Brazil, our livestream event will showcase the incredible opportunity that exists along with the strong foundation we have built over the past quarter of a century, which uniquely positions us to drive differentiated value and sustainable growth for our customers and Deere. Additional information can be found in the quarter's presentation and on our website.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

Really exciting news, Josh.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

Shifting now to our last topic. I'd like to walk through our capital allocation strategy. Josh Sheffson, given the market volatility and uncertainty, what can you share about the actions we're taking to ensure we can support both customers and shareholders during this time.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Our use of cash policy remains the same. It starts with maintaining a mid single A or better credit rating to ensure John Deere Financial can continue to provide customers with cost effective financing.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

This is even more important in the current environment when many financial institutions are less willing to participate in the ag space. Our next priority is investing in the business. By focusing on value accretive projects and solutions at all points in the cycle, we're able to exit downturns with a strong pipeline to deliver growth and competitive differentiation. Ultimately, by driving more value for our customers, we can drive more value for our shareholders, which we'll distribute via dividends and share repurchases. All this is predicated on prudent cash management for the business and even more so during periods of heightened market volatility.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

And as we have in the past, we've taken steps to solidify our balance sheet and bolster liquidity. I'm confident in our use of cash policy and ability to proactively plan and strategically execute in any market environment.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

Thanks, Josh. Great update. And before we open up the line to questions, do you have any final comments you'd like to share?

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Yeah. Thanks, Josh. The second quarter highlighted strong execution across the organization, and I'm proud of what the team has accomplished and the resiliency demonstrated in the face of significant uncertainty. We responded with measured actions to deliver optimal long term outcomes for all stakeholders. Our near term plan is focused on how we navigate this cycle.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

The actions we've taken continue to yield results and position us well for the future. And we're encouraged by the customer value our long term strategy is generating. Customers are choosing our production system offerings because they understand the outcomes the Deere solution provides. We're excited by the opportunities to expand our technology across business units and product lines, leveraging our investments in one business to drive returns in others. We'll continue to explore and invest in opportunities both organic and inorganic that provide strong returns for our customers and In closing, we're committed to our customers and focus squarely on driving long term value for them as we look to mitigate disruptions and volatility in their day to day operations.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

We take seriously the trust our customers place in gear to ensure they can execute their work. And to do so, we hold ourselves to the highest standards to ensure we can deliver on our promise of providing the highest quality machines, most value enhancing technologies and best customer service and support in the industry.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

Thanks, Josh. Now let's open it up to questions from our investors. We're now ready to begin the Q and A portion of the call.

Joshua Rohleder
Joshua Rohleder
Manager - Investor Communications at Deere & Company

The operator will instruct you on the polling procedure. In consideration of others and to allow more of you to participate in the call, please limit yourself to one question. Operator, we're ready for the first question.

Operator

Thank you. We will now begin our question and answer Our first question comes from Rob Wertheimer from Melius Research. Your line is open.

Rob Wertheimer
Analyst at Melius Research LLC

Thanks. And apologies everybody. I'd like to start out with a strategic question because I thought your comments on the SaaS and the adoption per the continued rollout on SeamSpray were really interesting. Can you kind of talk about how many different SaaS models you kind of have currently? I'm not sure I understand fully what the Precision Essential cohort product line is.

Rob Wertheimer
Analyst at Melius Research LLC

And then what does the pipeline look like for that? We obviously all understand your long term goals. I don't know if you have a bunch of features that you're kind of rolling out this year, next year or the year after? And how many different offerings you're doing in that SaaS world now? I know you've worked hard on getting farmers to sort of see the value of it.

Rob Wertheimer
Analyst at Melius Research LLC

I'm curious about your progress. Thank you.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

Hey, Rob. Thanks for the question. I can start off.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

I mean, I think if you think about our SaaS offerings, it's fair to put them in really three buckets. First, think about precision digital technologies, things like precision ag essentials, things like our G5 licenses, many of those are the foundational pieces of the tech stack. So Precision Essentials again is those core elements of Precision, the connectivity guidance on onboard compute that for Precision Essentials, we were offering a much lower upfront cost and then an annual license, depending on the level of Precision that you have. So Precision Technologies, Precision is kind of foundational digital elements in The second one, I think you broadly call as like Sense and Ag technologies, things like See and Spray, which are usage based depending on the savings that you're seeing in the field, things like Exact Shot. And then the third, which is forthcoming will be as we progress towards autonomy, again, a goal of a fully autonomous corn production system by the February.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

You'll see many of those autonomous solutions as a SaaS model as well.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Hey, Rob, it's Josh Efson. I think one thing to add to is today, a lot of those are based on the given solution, a single solution that we have. I think increasingly as we progress and as we drive outcomes and utilization, I think you'll see some of those come together more in bundles to make that easier from a customer perspective and thinking about how do they do their jobs across the production system, so not just on a given machine, but across multiple. So I think that will evolve.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

I think we're very early in that stage, but I think that will give us opportunities to demonstrate the value that we see that comes from an integrated production system. So from preparing the land all the way through harvest and then leveraging the data across that that we can provide and demonstrate that value in a different way, but early today from where we are. Thank you.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

Rob, you had asked about the pipeline too. So maybe just real quick on that.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

I mean, it's think about that in terms of both expanding on additional expanding on current foundational platforms. When we think of Sea and Spray like a platform, today we're in corn, soy, cotton in North America. We have the ability over time to expand that to different crop types, expand that to different geographies as well, autonomy as it begins to develop and roll out over the next few years. You saw MTS taking that autonomous platform beyond large ag to commercial mowing, to orchards, to construction. And then the ability to continue to build on the digital side as well, both in expanding the production systems.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

We mentioned that call where we've taken the op center and brought that to road building as well. So it's a combination of building our platforms, expanding their capabilities into different production systems and geographies as well. Thanks, Rob.

Rob Wertheimer
Analyst at Melius Research LLC

Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Tim Stein with Raymond Research I'm sorry, Raymond James. Your line is open.

Tim Thein
Tim Thein
Managing Director & Research Analyst at Raymond James Financial

Great. Thank you. Yes, the question is on the implied profitability in the second half for the PPA segment and basically how we should be or shouldn't be viewing that in the context of kind of a stepping off point heading into 2026. And if I add back, I think, call it $100,000,000 is what you outlined in terms of the tariff impact for that segment, you would imply decrementals of going to like 80% in the back half versus I think something like the mid-30s in the first half. So I know that the comparisons get skewed because of just the base of the numbers, especially in fourth quarter when I assume you're expecting to be growing revenues.

Tim Thein
Tim Thein
Managing Director & Research Analyst at Raymond James Financial

But maybe Josh, Jackson, just a comment there in terms of what we should be thinking about in terms of the key kind of elements in that implied profitability in the second half? Thank you.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Yes. Thanks, Tim. I would say there's a few things at play there.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

I mean, certainly, the tariff impact, which you described, which is impactful given what we see there. I think you also have a mix impact there, North American large ag being down, the industry being down where it is, even producing to retail at a much lower level is impactful as it relates to the decremental. And then I think on top of that, while price is favorable, it's favorable to a less extent than a year ago. So those things, I think, stack on top of each other drive the vast majority of that decremental. And as you noted, a smaller change on the top line just creates the denominator in that math, pushes those numbers a bit higher than what you traditionally see.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Thanks, Tim.

Tim Thein
Tim Thein
Managing Director & Research Analyst at Raymond James Financial

Got it. Thank you, Josh.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Jamie Cook with Truist Securities. Your line is open.

Jamie Cook
Jamie Cook
Managing Director - Equity Research at Truist Securities

Hi, good morning and nice quarter. I guess my first question or my question is just your the world we're in with tariffs etcetera.

Jamie Cook
Jamie Cook
Managing Director - Equity Research at Truist Securities

Your approach as we enter in 2026 in terms of the early order program whether there'll be any change there in pricing? And then I guess Josh typically for Deere if we enter a year with flat sales but we're producing in line with retail demand that generally means Deere can manufacture earnings growth. Do you still see that as potential? Or should we be less optimistic about your ability to fully offset tariffs looking out into 2026? Thank you.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Yes. Thanks, Jamie. Mean, first starting with early owner programs and those programs are just getting underway. In fact, we just launched Sprayers yesterday and planters will be forthcoming at the June. Yes, you're right.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

I mean, the structure of the early order programs will be similar to the past. They will occur in phases over the next several months. I think the beauty of that structure, particularly in an uncertain environment, is it gives us some price flexibility phase by phase as we see this ever changing tariff environment play out. And so we do have structured some optionality in those programs, optionality to wait as we think about the price and discount structure for upcoming phases as tariffs evolve over the next few months. So we've got that built in.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

As you think about what that means for next year and building in line with retail, the point I would make is and we mentioned this in our comments, we've done a lot of work last year and then that continued in the first half of this year in some select geographies to get new inventory very, very low levels candidly. We've talked about the work we did last year in The U. S. U. S.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Is in line with retail this year. Combines in South America, we had a little more under production to do in the first half of twenty five. That's complete now. In fact, the back half of this year in Brazil will actually build a little bit of seasonal inventory as we go into the spring selling season in the region. And then in Europe as well, we mentioned some green shoots there.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Our plan now with mid tractors in Europe is to build in line with retail given some of the pickup there. So we feel really good about where new inventories are positioned and that positions us well to be in line with retail in 2026 as well. Thanks for the question, Jamie.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from David Rathos with Evercore ISI. Your line is open.

David Raso
Senior Managing Director & Partner at Evercore

Hi. Thank you. I just wanted

David Raso
Senior Managing Director & Partner at Evercore

to dig into the second half large ag margins again, just so we understand a bit. Again, implied decrementals are for the whole second half, don't worry about third and fourth quarter, just an aggregate, just seem to be particularly weak. And I'm just making sure I understand, is this pricing that we're price protecting the backlog with retail invoices and that's sort of the pain point? But I would have thought you would have baked that into the $100,000,000 number, right, the 25% of the back half of the year, dollars 400,000,000 total tariff hit. I'm just making sure I understand why the margins would be that low in the second half of the year.

David Raso
Senior Managing Director & Partner at Evercore

It seems it just strikes me as very conservative. And at the same time, I don't want to be thinking about $26 that that's really an appropriate low starting point. I'm just making sure the mix being the mix shouldn't be that different than what we've seen already. So I apologize to sort of beat the dead horse a little bit. But can you help us understand why the margins are that soft in the second half?

David Raso
Senior Managing Director & Partner at Evercore

It just strikes me as very conservative. Thank you.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

David, I'll walk through a couple of things here. I mean, I think if you think about first and foremost the impact of tariffs as we said, if it's $500,000,000 for the full year, we incurred $100,000,000 in the second quarter, so about $400,000,000 rest of the year. The full year impact on the equipment operations for those for that tariff impact of 500,000,000 is about one point to 1.5. But again, being so back end loaded, in the back half margins, that's two to 2.5 points in the back half. So if you account for that, first and foremost, that's a pretty big lift.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

The decremental math candidly gets a little bit funny just because the change in sales is relatively small year over year as you look at the second half of twenty twenty five versus the second half twenty twenty four. So these changes, these tariff impacts have an outsized impact on the decremental math just given the smaller denominator from a sales change. As we mentioned, little bit less price in the back half as we think about that, a little bit less material availability. It was really, really strong in the front half of the year, and that pulls back a bit in the back half. We expect production costs ex tariffs to continue to be positive.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

They will be positive for the full year, but to a lesser extent in the back half. So I think between all those elements, Dave, I think that's what's driving a little bit of the compare there. Thanks for the question.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Jerry Revich with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Jerry Revich
Jerry Revich
Analyst at Goldman Sachs

Yes. Hi. Good morning, everyone, and congratulations on the strong quarter. I'm wondering if you could just revisit just philosophically the price cost conversation revisit the prepared remarks. I mean historically you folks have pushed pricing ahead of inflation with value.

Jerry Revich
Jerry Revich
Analyst at Goldman Sachs

And so you had mentioned for 2026 list prices are under review to see if that can continue. Can you just expand on that because your competitors are facing the same or worse cost pressures than you and you folks have a really strong track record of pushing through inflation in all forms. So can you just talk about is there any scenario under which you might be priced tariff cost negative in 2026? Thank you.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Hey, Jerry. It's Josh Jeffston. I guess I would start and maybe reiterate a little bit of what I said earlier. I think one of the unique components that we face today is coming through a period of significant inflation. I think we're very mindful of how much price has been pushed through the system as an industry over call it the last four, five years.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

And as a result, I think very mindful of what do we do here as we go forward given where the industry sits today. So do we believe we'll get price? Yes. This year we're doing about a point of price in a challenged market. If we look at in production precision ag some of the early order programs that are out there with prices, we're in the low single digit range, 2% to 4% price.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

And as Josh Biel mentioned, we'll continue to evaluate those as we go forward. But we think that's reasonable. We're trying to take a measured approach there as we think about not only the customer dynamics, but what does it mean from a margin perspective as we march forward. At the same time, we're going to continue to put more and more effort into not only mitigation efforts, but what are we doing on production cost, whether that's material cost, logistics cost, overheads, which have been favorable thus far this year. We're going to keep pressing on those things, which we have control over.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Early, I think, to predict exactly what 2026 looks like. I think we've got a lot of actions that we can take, but definitely trying to be measured and mindful from a price perspective for customers. Thanks, Jerry.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Chad Dillard with Bernstein. Your line is open.

Chad Dillard
Senior Analyst, US Machinery at Bernstein

Hey, good morning, guys. So, I guess, just to kind of continue with Eptera conversation, Just trying to think through how you guys are thinking about sharing the tariff costs across all the constituents with the vendors, yourselves, dealers, customers, just given that your farmers have seen a lot of price increase over the last several years. I'm sure it's like some combination of all those valves, but just to get a sense of just your full cycle approach.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

Yes. Thanks, Chad.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

I mean, I think first and foremost, we've mentioned this, but it's certainly underscoring the dynamic environment. And through all of this, we're trying to understand what the levels are going to be. And again, as we've seen in the last three or four days, that can change pretty quickly. And so I think first and foremost, just reaffirming, we're taking a measured approach in all of this and a measured approach in terms of the decisions that we make, how quickly we react just because it's changing so quickly. So with that as a backdrop, certainly, Josh steps have mentioned, we're going to take price.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

You've seen that in the actions that we've taken thus far on early order programs, again, ranging from 2% to 4% in the programs that are out there thus far. And as I mentioned, we've got some optionality in those phases of the earlier programs to adjust as the environment potentially could change as well. As it relates to sourcing, we certainly work with our suppliers to make sure we're equally sharing what we're seeing. And at the same time, we're continually looking for the best cost options. We do that in a tariff environment and not in a tariff environment, and that's just a continual good practice, good hygiene that we have to look for those low cost options.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

We've done a lot of work over the last several years in terms of dual sourcing, in terms of supplier resiliency, and those efforts are still very much in play right now as the environment changes. So it's a combination of all of the above. And I think short answer is it'll be sharing across all those stakeholders with the actions that we mentioned. Thanks, Chad.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Kristen Owen with Oppenheimer. Your line is open.

Kristen Owen
Executive Director & Senior Analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking the question.

Kristen Owen
Executive Director & Senior Analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

I wanted to come back to your used inventory comments in your prepared remarks and just get a sense of velocity of movement of that used equipment. You did note some of the ECAP dollars that have started to flow And how you're thinking about how that could influence your net pricing capability, whether that's in the back half or as we get into 2026? Just that influence of the used market would be very helpful. Thank you.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Yes, Chris. Thanks for the question. As we mentioned, in the used market in North America, really have seen good progress on combines over the last year or so. So the focus here is really around high horsepower tractors in North America. And what we've seen in that segment is some stabilization.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

The year over year increases in high horsepower used are mitigating or moderating, I should say. We saw some seasonal build in the quarter. I think we did see a little bit of a slowdown just over the last three or four weeks of April, just given the volatility in the market. But think pace to your question, Kristin, is still a bit unknown and there's a lot of factors in play. There's some stability in Ag fundamentals, albeit at lower levels.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

You mentioned the economic systems that's coming through. We view that as a good thing for our customers. And again, we're continuing to put those ingredients in place, keeping new inventories low as well as pool funds that are supporting our dealers as they work on the used market. So very mindful of the pace. It's very much a focus area and we'll see how it plays out in the back half of the year.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

And Chris, maybe a slightly different way to answer that is, I think there's an underlying question of kind of what unlocks the ag cycle in North America. And I think used is one part of that. As we can move and work through some of that used, I think that's certainly helpful. I think having a Farm Bill in place would provide some certainty for our customers, which would be supportive. And then I think there's given where stocks to use are, there's a few things that could drive some upside, whether that's trade deals that we talked about, like I mentioned, with U.

Justin Rose
Justin Rose
President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success at Deere & Company

K. That are driving ag commodities and ag energy year around E15, if you think about demand for ethanol. And then certainly, there's always weather impacts that can be impactful. So I think use is important certainly. And I think there are a couple of other things that we could see that if occurred could drive a little bit of a turn in the shape of the cycle where we're at.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

We have time for one more question.

Operator

Thank you. Our last question comes from Stephen Volkmann with Jefferies. Your line is open.

Stephen Volkmann
Equity Analyst at Jefferies & Company Inc

Thank you, guys. Just slid in there. Maybe I'm just going to tug at this thread around tariffs one more way. Is it your ultimate goal to price so that you protect margin? Or is it your ultimate goal to sort of cover the dollars that tariffs might sort of add to your P and L instead?

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Hey, Steve. This is Josh Epsen. It's a great question. We've and this is something we worked through and wrestled with when we saw some of the inflationary pressures really over the last five plus years, I mean, ultimately, the goal would be to find ways to protect margin. And that's not just price.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

That's what we're doing from a cost structure perspective and how we can add value. Now, I think saying that's there's multiple pieces of that and the timelines of those probably vary a little bit. But I think overall, the view is we want to protect margin both through activities on cost as well as what we do from a price realization perspective. That's all the time that we have for today. We appreciate everyone's time, thanks for joining us on our call.

Joshua Jepsen
Joshua Jepsen
SVP & CFO at Deere & Company

Have a great day.

Operator

Thank you. That concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may disconnect at this time.

Executives
    • Josh Beal
      Josh Beal
      Director of Investor Relations
    • John May
      John May
      Chairman & CEO
    • Joshua Jepsen
      Joshua Jepsen
      SVP & CFO
    • Joshua Rohleder
      Joshua Rohleder
      Manager - Investor Communications
    • Justin Rose
      Justin Rose
      President - Lifecycle Solutions, Supply Management & Customer Success
Analysts
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Key Takeaways

  • Better-than-expected second quarter with 18.8% equipment operations margin despite a 16% year-over-year net sales decline, driven by operational execution and material cost efficiencies.
  • Full-year guidance ranges were widened to reflect a $500 million annual tariff impact, with mitigation actions like USMCA certification and supply-chain adjustments underway.
  • John Deere reaffirmed its $20 billion U.S. investment over the next decade to advance its Smart Industrial strategy, combining cutting-edge technology with its manufacturing legacy.
  • Momentum in precision agriculture accelerated, with nearly 10,000 Precision Essentials orders in the first half of fiscal 2025, Seeding & Spray deployments tripling, and digital engagement up over 15%.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Deere & Company Q2 2025
00:00 / 00:00

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