Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN) offered a forecast for the first quarter that exceeded expectations, with new orders projected to be between 17,500 and 18,000, surpassing the consensus estimate of 16,493.
In the fourth quarter, the company reported adjusted EPS of $5.17, beating the $5.02 from the previous year and exceeding the estimated $4.60. Revenue for the quarter came in at $11 billion, ahead of the Street at $10.22 billion.
Stuart Miller, Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Lennar, said, "We are pleased to report another strong quarter and year end, against the backdrop of evolving, though constructive, market conditions. During our fourth quarter, the economic environment shifted as interest rates rose for most of the quarter, and then subsided.”
Lennar's net new orders increased by 32% year-over-year to 17,366, outperforming the estimated 16,840.
Despite this positive outlook, Lennar's stock declined due to a slightly weaker gross margin on home sales, standing at 24.2% compared to the estimated 24.4%.
The company still expects to deliver ~10% more homes in FY24.
“We expect the stock to open lower and will be listening for LEN's early takes on how a lower interest rate environment could impact price and margin in FY24,” analysts at Jefferies said.
Shares are down over 3% in early New York trading on Friday.