For a grower deciding how to work five thousand acres, the green-and-yellow machine in the shed is less a purchase than a decade-long operating commitment. Deere & Company (John Deere) has built its business around that reality from its Moline, Illinois headquarters — the world's largest agricultural machinery maker by revenue and a growing force in construction equipment. Founded in 1837, the company transformed traditional farming equipment into precision high-tech machinery, independently manufacturing engines, transmissions, and electronic control units across 104+ facilities globally. Despite a harsh agricultural cycle bottom, Deere delivered $45.68 billion in FY2025 revenue with ~73,100 employees, and its construction & forestry division — anchored by the 2017 Wirtgen acquisition, the world's largest road-construction machinery maker — contributed roughly $13.2 billion, ranking fourth globally. Its iconic green-and-yellow livery commands extraordinary loyalty across North and South American and Asian agricultural belts. Listed on the NYSE (DE), with the construction & forestry division contributing roughly $13.2 billion — nearly 29% of company sales.
Strengths: Precision agriculture technology leadership via Sentera acquisition embedding advanced drone-based weed mapping and autonomous vision into machinery. Massive manufacturing scale with 60+ U.S. factories and $100 million smart production line upgrades. Iconic brand loyalty with generational customer trust in product durability and reliability. Right-to-repair resolution removing significant regulatory overhang with FTC settlement and diagnostic software opening. Wirtgen road-building portfolio providing a hedge between agricultural and infrastructure cycles, with cold milling machines, pavers and compactors serving global highway contractors.
Weaknesses: $99 million FTC settlement cost from right-to-repair litigation impacting near-term profitability. Severe cyclical exposure with Q2 FY2026 revenue falling 16% amid global agricultural equipment demand trough. Premium pricing limitation restricting market penetration in price-sensitive developing agricultural economies. Tariff-driven production shifts — moving compact track loader output to Mexico — adding transitional cost and complexity.
Founded
1837
Workforce
75,550
Facilities
100+ factories and facilities worldwide, including 60+ major sites in the US
Presence
160+ countries
HQ
Moline, IL, United States
Market cap
$173 B
Market
NYSE: DE







