D.R. Horton Shares Slide as New Orders Disappoint

Home builder D.R. Horton Inc. posted new orders for its latest quarter Tuesday that fell short of expectations, even as revenue climbed 18%.

New orders increased 3% to 8,744 homes in the three months ended in September, below the expectations of analysts surveyed by FactSet who projected 9,433. Shares of the company fell 5.5% premarket to $27.75.

According to federal data, sales of newly built homes rose in September after an August tumble, a sign modest momentum continues in the housing market.

Purchases of new single-family homes increased 3.1% in September from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 593,000, the Commerce Department said in the last week of October.

Over all for the September period, D.R. Horton reported profit of $283.6 million, or 75 cents a share, compared with $238.1 million, or 64 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

Revenue grew 18% to $3.65 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 77 cents a share on revenue of $3.66 billion.

The company backed its outlook for 2017, including revenue between $13.4 billion and $13.8 billion. Analysts expect $13.64 billion.

During the fourth quarter, Horton acquired home builder Wilson Parker Homes for about $91.9 million in cash.

Write to Ezequiel Minaya at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 08, 2016 09:35 ET (14:35 GMT)

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