D.R. Horton Q1 Profit Up 86%, Results Beat View

(RTTNews) - Homebuilder D.R. Horton, Inc. (DHI) on Tuesday reported an 86 percent increase in profit for the first quarter from last year on strong homebuilding revenue growth that reflects higher home closings and selling prices. Both earnings per share and quarterly revenues topped analysts' expectations.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based company's net income for the first quarter was $123.2 million or $0.36 per share, up sharply from $66.3 million or $0.20 per share in the prior-year period. On average, 22 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.29 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter grew 33 percent to $1.64 billion from $1.23 billion in the year-ago quarter and beat analysts' consensus estimate of $1.45 billion.

Homebuilding revenues surged 33 percent to $1.63 billion from $1.22 billion in the same quarter last year. Homes closed in the quarter grew 19 percent to 6,188 homes from 5,182 homes in the prior-year period.

Home sales gross margin expanded 380 basis points to 22.3 percent from last year. The company noted that its average selling price increased 10 percent to $275,600.

Net sales orders totaled 5,454 homes or $1.50 billion, compared to 5,259 homes or $1.31 billion in the same quarter of last year. The company noted that its cancellation rate for the first quarter was 23 percent.

At the end of the first quarter, the company's sales order backlog increased 5 percent from the year-ago period to 7,684 homes, while the value of the backlog rose 20 percent from last year to $2.11 billion.

The company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.0375 per share, payable on February 18, 2014 to stockholders of record on February 7, 2014.

Looking ahead, Donald Horton, Chairman of the Board said, "Housing market conditions continue to improve across most of our operating markets, and our weekly sales pace has accelerated in January. We are well-positioned to capture demand in the spring selling season with a solid balance sheet, an increased community count, a robust finished lot supply and a strong inventory of homes available for sale."

DHI closed Monday's trading at $20.94. In Tuesday's pre-market, the stock is up $0.81 or 3.87 percent to $21.75.