DE vs LOW Comparison

Deere is the world's leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment and a major producer of construction machinery. The company is divided into four reporting segments: production & precision agriculture (PPA), small agriculture & turf (SAT), construction & forestry (CF), and financial services (FS), its captive finance subsidiary. The core PPA business is the largest contributor to sales and profits by far. Geographically, Deere sales are 60% US/Canada, 17% Europe, 14% Latin America, and 9% rest of world. Deere goes to market through a robust dealer network that includes over 2,000 dealer locations in North America with reach into over 100 countries. John Deere financial provides retail financing for machinery to its customers and wholesale financing for dealers.

Lowe's is the second-largest home improvement retailer globally, with around 1,750 stores in the US, after the 2023 divestiture of its Canadian locations (RONA, Lowe's Canada, Réno-Dépôt, and Dick's Lumber). The firm's stores offer products and services for home decorating, maintenance, repair, and remodeling, with maintenance and repair accounting for two-thirds of products sold. Lowe's primarily targets retail do-it-yourself (around 70% of sales) and do-it-for-me customers, but has expanded its professional business clients to 30% from less than 20% in the past six years (set ot expand further with the acquisition of FBM). We estimate Lowe's captures a high-single-digit share of the domestic home improvement market, based on US Census data and management's market size estimates.