Agriculture equipment maker John Deere (NYSE:DE) has struck a deal with Starlink, a satellite internet division of Elon Musk’s privately held company SpaceX, the Wall Street Journal reported. This collaboration aims to provide reliable internet connectivity to Deere’s farming equipment in remote areas, including tractors, crop sprayers, and other tools. The goal is to enable farmers to utilize the company’s digital products.
According to the report, John Deere has poured billions into developing computer-assisted services designed for farmers. The company’s ongoing investments in technology and providing intelligent solutions by leveraging hardware, software, connectivity, and data platforms augur well for long-term growth. It’s worth highlighting that Deere’s equipment operations, which include Production and Precision Agriculture, Small Agriculture and Turf, and Construction and Forestry divisions, witnessed healthy growth in Fiscal 2023.
For instance, the Production and Precision Agriculture segment’s revenue jumped 22% in FY2023. Further, the Small Agriculture and Turf and Construction and Forestry divisions registered growth of 4% and 18%, respectively. With this background, let’s look at what the Street recommends for DE stock.
Is John Deere a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
John Deere stock is down about 11% in one year, underperforming the S&P 500’s (SPX) nearly 20% gain. Macro headwinds are adversely impacting the company’s shipment volumes, keeping analysts cautiously optimistic about its prospects.
John Deer stock has a Moderate Buy consensus based on 10 Buy and eight Hold recommendations. Analysts’ average price target of $429.76 implies 11.19% upside potential from current levels.
