CNH Industrial (CNHI, Financial) (23%, 1.19%), one of the world's largest agriculture machinery manufacturers, was another top contributor. CNH reported strong fourth quarter results, beating the consensus on every metric. The Agricultural Equipment (Ag) business, which represents the majority of our value, posted strong top-line growth of 19% YoY thanks to rising commodity prices, growing trade with China and the replacement of aging machinery fleets. Visibility for the first half of 2021 is strong, given solid Ag order growth across most key end markets, and we expect to see operational turnarounds in CNH's other businesses. The company is also guiding 8-12% industrial sales growth for 2021, which is better than our initial expectation. The most positive surprise for the quarter was the company's strong cash generation. CNH generated approximately $2.4bn FCF in the fourth quarter alone, driven by working capital release leading to a strong net cash position for the industrial segment. Due to the recent stock price appreciation, the price-to-value gap has narrowed, but we continue to have a positive view given a more favorable market outlook, the company's strong execution capability and management's continued commitments to value accretive transactions, including the planned splitting of the business and potentially other strategic asset sales.
Mason Hawkins (Trades, Portfolio)' Longleaf Partners Fund first-quarter 2021 commentary.
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