DULUTH, Ga. (AP) -- Farm equipment maker Agco Corp. said its fourth-quarter profit more than tripled as strong demand in a booming agricultural sector boosted sales.
But the company also said Tuesday that it was setting its 2012 outlook roughly in line with what analysts expected, dampening expectations for another year of surprisingly strong results. Shares of the company fell more than 4 percent in morning trading.
The company said its net income for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 was $285.2 million, or $2.90 per share, compared to $85.2 million, or 87 cents per share, during the prior year period.
Revenue during the quarter was $2.52 billion, up 16 percent from $2.17 billion in the same period a year before.
The company also reported adjusted net income of $1.44 per share, excluding one-time items like tax gains and acquisition costs. That's up from an adjusted net income of 88 cents per share during the prior year period.
The results handily beat the average forecast from analysts surveyed by FactSet for adjusted net income of $1.33 per share, while revenue was slightly below the $2.53 billion analysts expected.
Even though the results were surprisingly strong, the company's stock slid in part because of Agco's outlook, Buckingham Research Group analyst Joel Tiss said in an email.
The company said it expects earn about $5 per share in 2012 on revenue over $10 billion. Analysts are expecting the company to earn net income of $5 per share and adjusted net income $5.01 per share on revenue of $9.89 billion.
Agco's stock has also been the victim of its own success, Tiss wrote. Shares have jumped almost 60 percent in the last few months, rising from $32.39 a share in October to more than $51 this week. Without a bullish outlook to support that price, some analysts have cooled on the stock.
For the full 2011 fiscal year, Agco reported net income of $583.3 million, or $5.95 per share, compared to $220.5 million, or $2.29 per share, during the same period the year before.
Revenue during the year was $8.77 billion, up 27 percent from $6.9 billion the year before.
The company also reported adjusted net income, excluding one-time items, of $4.48 per share, up from an adjusted $2.32 per share during 2010.
Analysts were expecting adjusted net income of $4.38 per share on revenue of $8.79 billion.
Shares fell $2.10, or 3.9 percent, to $51.63 in morning trading.
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