MW Deere's stock jumps toward another record. The construction business is booming again.

By Tomi Kilgore

The stock is headed toward its eighth record this year, as Deere's estimate for 2026 sales growth looks set to outpace the industry

Deere's stock surges further into record territory after a big earnings beat and a full-year outlook for sales outperformance.

Shares of Deere are headed for yet another record on Thursday after the maker of tractors and lawn-care equipment blew past fiscal first-quarter earnings expectations, saying profits in its construction business more than doubled.

The company also provided a 2026 sales growth outlook showing each of its business segments outperforming the industries in which they operated - even as profitability in Deere's global large-agriculture business is being hurt by tariffs and higher warranty expenses.

Deere's stock (DE) rallied 6.4% in premarket trading. That put it on track to open above the Feb. 11 record close of $612.69, and to set an eighth record close this year.

For the quarter to Feb. 1, net income fell 24.5% to $656 million. While that marked the ninth straight quarter of year-over-year declines in net income, earnings per share for the quarter of $2.42 was well above the average analyst EPS estimate compiled by FactSet of $2.02.

Total revenue grew 13% to $9.61 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $9.12 billion.

Deere saw particular strength in its construction and forestry business, which saw sales surge 33.9% to $2.67 billion, beating expectations of $2.34 billion, and booking a 110.8% increase in operating profit to $137 million.

That followed 27% growth in sales the previous quarter, which snapped a six-quarter streak of year-over-year declines.

The small-agriculture and turf business was also booming, with sales rising 24% to $2.17 billion and operating profit jumping 58.1% to $196 million.

Meanwhile, sales for the production and precision-agriculture business rose just 3% to $3.16 billion, while operating profit dropped 58.9% to $139 million.

For the full fiscal year, Deere forecast revenue for both its construction and forestry and small-ag and turf businesses rising about 15% from the prior year, while analysts are currently modeling for growth of 9.5% and 9.8%, respectively. Production and precision-ag revenue is expected to be down 5% to 10%, compared with analyst projections for a decline of 6.9%.

Deere's growth estimates for its business were above the outlooks for the respective industries, as growth in the global construction and forestry and small-ag and turf markets is seen ranging from flat to up about 5%, while the large-ag market is seen down 15% to 20%.

Deere's stock has run up 25% over the past three months, and gained 16.5% over the past 12 months through Wednesday. In comparison, the S&P 500 index SPX has advanced 12% over the past year.

-Tomi Kilgore

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February 19, 2026 08:55 ET (13:55 GMT)

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