Lennar Q1 Profit Tops Estimates, Shares Rise

Shares of Lennar Corp. LEN rose around 2% in pre-market trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the first quarter. The Miami, Florida-based company posted quarterly earnings of $115 million, or $0.50 per share, compared to $78.1 million, or $0.35 per share, in the year-earlier period. Its revenue surged 20.6% to $1.64 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.45 per share on revenue of $1.50 billion. Revenue at the company's financial services business jumped 62% to $124.8 million, while revenue from home sales gained 23% to $1.4 billion from $1.1 billion. Revenue for the Rialto segment slipped to $41.2 million in the first quarter, versus $47.0 million in the year-ago quarter. Deliveries of homes climbed 19% to 4,302 homes in the first quarter, while orders for new homes rose 18% to 5,287 homes in the same period. Average selling price surged to $326,000 from $316,000. Gross margins on home sales shrank to 23.1% from 25.1%. Stuart Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Lennar Corporation, said, "Despite severe weather conditions which constrained production and sales in parts of the country, the housing market continued its slow and steady recovery. Early signals from this year's spring selling season indicate that the housing market is improving, and disappointing single family starts and permits numbers should rebound shortly. The sizable production deficit of the past years continues to drive demand improvement in spite of the constrained mortgage market." Lennar shares gained 1.95% to $50.69 in pre-market trading.