(Reuters) -D.R. Horton Inc on Wednesday raised its fiscal 2022 revenue forecast as it benefits from record-high home prices that helped the largest U.S. homebuilder report a stellar quarterly profit.
D.R. Horton’s shares rose 3.4% before the bell as the company beat first-quarter profit estimates despite an acute shortage of properties on the market, largely due to labor and raw material shortages.
U.S. homebuilding jumped to a nine-month high in December and new home sales increased 11.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 811,000 units in the month, the highest level since March, the U.S. commerce department said last week.
“Housing market conditions remain very robust,” Chairman Donald R. Horton said, adding that D.R. Horton was on track to deliver double-digit volume growth in fiscal 2022.
The Texas-based company said it expects 2022 revenue between $34.5 billion and $35.5 billion, up from $32.5 billion to $33.5 billion, and homes closed between 90,000 homes and 92,000 homes.
Homebuilding revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 increased 17% to $6.7 billion from $5.7 billion a year earlier, while total revenue rose to $7.05 billion from $5.93 billion.
Net income attributable rose to $1.14 billion, or $3.17 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31, from $791.8 million, or $2.14 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $ 2.79 per share on revenue of $6.7 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Net sales orders for the first quarter ended December 31 increased 5% to 21,522 homes to $8.26 billion compared to 20,418 homes and $6.42 billion in the same quarter a year earlier.
(Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
