A sold sign stands outside a new home in the D.R. Horton Cambridge at Southbury development in Oswego, Illinois.
Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images
D.R. Horton beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly profit and forecast 2020 home sales above estimates on Tuesday, as the No. 1 U.S. homebuilder benefits from strong demand on the back of cheaper mortgage rates.
The company said it expects home sales for 2020 to be between 60,000 and 61,000 homes, compared with analysts’ estimates of 59,737 homes.
Orders, an indicator of future revenue, rose 14.1% to 13,130 homes in the fourth quarter.
U.S. homebuilding tumbled from a more than 12-year high in September, but single-family home construction rose for a fourth straight month, suggesting the housing market remains supported by lower mortgage rates even as the economy is slowing.
D.R. Horton said it sold 16,024 homes in the quarter, up from 14,674 a year ago.
Net income attributable to the company rose 8.4% to $505.3 million, or $1.35 per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30.
Revenue rose 11.7% to $5.04 billion.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $1.25 per share on revenue of $4.86 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.