Bill Gates Stock Portfolio: Latest 2024 Update

6. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Investment Stake: $1.48 billion

Number of Hedge Fund Investors In Q3 2024: 41

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) is one of the biggest industrial machinery companies in America. Since the firm derives a sizable chunk of its revenue from farming and agricultural machinery, its share price performance has been less than stellar in 2024. This is because lower farm prices have created supply disruptions in the market. The supply disruptions have translated into weak share price movements, as Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s shares were up by a hairline 1% by November 20th. However, the narrative shifted afterward when the firm’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings per share of $4.55 beat analyst estimates of $3.87 by a wide margin. Since then, Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s shares have gained 9.7% even though the firm’s fiscal 2025 midpoint profit guidance of $5.25 billion missed estimates of $5.93 billion. Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s management shared during the call that it expects machinery demand to remain muted. Therefore, a recovery in crop prices and incentives for farmers to start buying machines again should drive the hypothesis moving forward.

Deere & Company (NYSE:DE)’s management shared how it managed a tough year during the Q4 2024 earnings call. Here is what they said:

“2024 was characterized by our resiliency in the face of significant challenges. The pullback we experienced in global markets this year provided our organization with an opportunity to showcase the structural improvements we’ve made since announcing the smart industrial operating model in 2020. Starting with our financial scorecard, we continued to demonstrate better performance across the cycle. Notably, our margins in 2024 exceeded 18%, reflecting nearly 700 bps of improvement from 2020, which was the last time we were at this point in the cycle. This margin expansion has enabled us to invest record levels back into the business this year. More important than the numbers, I couldn’t be prouder of the resilience demonstrated by our John Deere employee team this year.

The velocity at which markets slowed tested our discipline and our agility. However, in the face of these difficulties, we emerged more focused than ever on our mission to help our customers do more with less. Our dedicated teams across factories, engineering centers, dealerships, branches, offices, and in the field showed remarkable fortitude as we made proactive decisions based on hard-learned lessons from the past. We maintain our focus on the customer, ensuring we not only retain but also actively seek out the best talent with the skills and experience necessary to help us solve the significant challenges facing our customers.”