Daedong, an agricultural company, said on May 18 it posted consolidated first-quarter sales of 377.7 billion won and operating profit of 6.0 billion won for 2026.

The company said sales fell 2.4 percent from a year earlier, and operating profit also declined due to a global farm machinery market slowdown, U.S. tariff burdens and increased investment in future businesses centered on AI and robotics.

Even so, Daedong is accelerating its shift to an "AI farming operations platform" company based on "agricultural Physical AI," linking AI tractors with agricultural robots, precision agriculture and smart farming.

Daedong held nationwide demonstrations in the first quarter for vision AI-based autonomous work tractors to strengthen its sales base, and it also won a national agricultural AX platform project worth 254.6 billion won.

In North America, it is strengthening a strategy of qualitative growth focused on strong dealers with high sales capability, alongside quantitative growth, with a target of securing 100 new dealers this year. It has already met its first-quarter target and expects it will be able to secure at least 50 or more top dealers in the first half.

It is also pushing to expand market coverage and strengthen competitiveness in premium channels by developing new channels in Northern Europe and expanding capabilities for a direct sales business in Germany.

From the second quarter, Daedong plans to focus on improving performance by targeting North America's peak season, expanding AI tractor sales and carrying out cost innovation activities. It aims to sell up to 300 AI tractors this year, and will expand package sales based on precision agriculture and transport robots.

CEO Yu-hyun Won (원유현) said, "This year is an important time for Daedong to transition into a future farming platform company based on agricultural Physical AI." He added, "We will strengthen the competitiveness of future businesses centered on AI tractors, precision agriculture and smart farming, and secure a foundation for sustained growth through expanding global channels."