“As John noted, we expect to perform better across all points of the cycle, as evidenced by our nearly 19% equip ops operating margin forecast just below mid-cycle levels, while remaining focused on managing production and inventories proactively.”

In context

“ore we open the line to questions, Josh Jepsen, any final comments? Josh Jepsen: It was a good first quarter, with strong results to get the year going. Fundamentals, overall, began normalizing across our businesses and are supportive of near mid-cycle volume levels. We returned $1.7 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases during the quarter, while also investing in record levels of R&D to bring new solutions to market. It was also exciting to see the team highlight some of our solutions at the Consumer Electronics Show in January that are unlocking value for customers, not just economic value, but sustainable value as well. The company has been through economic cycles in the past, and we know how to manage through various stages of end market demand. As John noted, we expect to perform better across all points of the cycle, as evidenced by our nearly 19% equip ops operating margin forecast just below mid-cycle levels, while remaining focused on managing production and inventories proactively. We are, at the same time, focused on building a more resilient, less variable business while delivering more value to customers than ever before. We will continue to adapt our business model to enable customers to adopt, use and benefit from our tech stack. One important thing to consider, our customers do critical work to produce food, fiber, fuel, shelter and infrastructure. The trend of fewer people going to work in these areas is not slowing, and we hear this from our customers each and every day. What this means is that our solutions need to do more and no one is better positioned to meet our customers' needs than we are, given our ability to seamlessly integrate hardware, software, data, financing and service and support. Importantly, our team of Deere and dealer employees get”