Earnings Bling: Diamonds and Tractors Show Strength (TIF, COH, DE, CAT, MCD)

The day before the Thanksgiving holiday yields a mash-up of earnings. Luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) reported a 27% gain in profits this morning on sales that topped the same period a year ago by 14%. Tiffany’s EPS of $0.43, compared with analysts’ expectations of $0.37. Sales rose to $681.7 million, compared with expectations of $653 million. High-end retailer Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) previously reported EPS of $0.63, nearly 15% better than expectations.  From small, expensive goods we now turn to large, expensive goods. Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) reported fourth fiscal quarter EPS of $1.07 on revenue of $7.2 billion. Analysts were expecting EPS of $0.94 on revenue of $6.22 billion.

Tiffany’s shares are up nearly 5% this morning, while Deere’s shares are only up a negligible 0.13%. The difference is in the forecasts. Tiffany raised its full-year EPS target from $2.72 to $2.77, the third time this year that the company has boosted its outlook.

Deere, however, sees EPS in its 2011 fiscal year of about $4.92, far below previous expectations of $5.23. The company said that North American farmers would be transitioning to new equipment to meet lower emissions standards and that South American sales may not grow following a strong 2010. But it seems like a transition to new equipment would generate better sales in North America. Maybe Deere is just aiming low but expecting better.

In a related story, heavy equipment maker Caterpillar, Inc. (NYSE: CAT) has issued its first yuan-denominated medium term notes on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company issued 2% notes maturing in 2012 worth 1 billion yuan, or about $150 million.

The Caterpillar debt is being offered at a full percentage point below an earlier bond offered by McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), and should attract a lot of investors. The issuance of yuan-denominated debt in Hong Kong is a bet that that the Chinese will allow the currency to appreciate and, even better, allows the issuing company to avoid the capital controls being imposed on mainland offerings.

Paul Ausick