Dive Brief:

• Deere & Co. CFO Josh Jepsen will be leaving the farm and construction equipment maker to become finance chief of Honeywell International’s aerospace spinoff, according to a Thursday Honeywell press release. Honeywell Aerospace will be one of the largest publicly traded pure-play aerospace and defense companies, Honeywell said.
• The Charlotte, North Carolina-based global technology conglomerate said Jepsen will join Honeywell Aerospace Feb. 23. The new entity will become an independent public company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, with the spinoff slated to occur in H2.  
• Honeywell also named three long-time veterans to the new entity’s leadership team. "These appointments position Honeywell Aerospace for long-term success as we advance toward launching an independent company that will play a vital role in the aerospace and defense industry," Jim Currier, CEO of Honeywell Aerospace, said in a statement in the release.

Dive Insight:.

Jepsen is leaving Deere, a major exporter of U.S.-made farm machinery, as it has faced margin pressures from tariffs. It has been challenged by higher U.S. duties on parts imported to its domestic plants, as well as increased tariffs abroad levied by other countries in response, The Wall Street Journal reported.. 

For the fiscal year ended Nov. 2 Deere in November reported its net income fell 29% year-over-year to $5.02 billion from $7.1 billion. Meanwhile, its fiscal Q4 net income fell by a narrower 14% to $1.1 billion from $1.3 billion, according to a securities filing. The company also forecast net income to tick down further in fiscal year 2026 to between $4 billion and $4.75 billion. 

“Despite management effectively calling the bottom of the agriculture cycle in 2026, the company guided to further revenue declines in the core precision agriculture business due to ongoing weakness in the North American market. This seems more bearish than commentary from peers,” Morningstar analysts wrote in a Nov. 26 note.

During a November earnings call, Jepsen highlighted that company’s efforts to improve profitability had bolstered its performance at a tough time. “Even with the North America large ag industry declining this year by around 30%, we delivered margins over 450 basis points better than 2016, the last time we were at this point in the cycle,” Jepsen said according to a transcript of the call. “Excluding tariff headwinds, that improvement would have exceeded 600 basis points.” 

Until Deere finds a permanent CFO, the company has appointed Ryan D. Campbell, who previously served as the company’s finance chief from March 2019 to May 2022, to serve as acting finance chief on an interim basis, effective Feb. 19, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Campbell, 51, has served as president of Worldwide Construction & Forestry and Power Systems since May 2022. 

Jepsen has worked for Deere for nearly 18 years, according to his LinkedIn account. His roles have most recently included deputy financial officer, investor relations director, and controller of the sub-Saharan Africa, India, Southeast Asia and China region. Earlier in his career there he also served as an internal auditor and he holds an MBA from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s in accounting and Spanish from the University of Northern Iowa. 

The Honeywell veterans appointed to the spinoff include Bob Buddecke, who will be CEO of Electronic Solutions, Dave Marinick, who will be CEO of Engines and Power Systems and Rich DeGraff, who will serve as CEO of Control Systems.