Home builder D.R. Horton Inc. on Tuesday said profit in its
latest quarter nearly doubled, as orders and closings jumped.
Rising consumer confidence, low mortgage rates and low inventory
have helped spur new-home sales over recent months. The Federal
Reserve's policy-setting committee in its latest assessment
signaled a more optimistic shift in its view of the housing market,
and the annual sales pace hit a seven-year high in the most recent
report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
For D.R. Horton, orders grew 22% in its fiscal third quarter to
10,398 homes, though the increase fell short of the 10,785 analysts
polled by FactSet predicted. The value of new orders rose 25% to $3
billion while backlog totaled $3.7 billion, up 15% from a year
earlier. Closings, meanwhile, climbed 28% to 9,856 homes.
In all for the June quarter, the Fort Worth, Texas, company
reported a profit of $221.4 million, or 60 cents a share, up from
$113.1 million, or 32 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 37% to
$2.88 billion.
Analysts expected earnings of 50 cents a share on $2.76 billion
in sales, according to FactSet.
Home-building gross margin narrowed to 19.9% from 20.3%.
Smaller rival PulteGroup Inc. last week also said order growth
spurred an increase in second-quarter profit.
D.R. Horton shares, up about 6% this year, rose 1.4% to $27.10
in premarket trading.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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