D.R. Horton Q4 profit falls 18% as orders slip; dividend raised 11%

D.R. Horton said Thursday that fiscal fourth-quarter profit fell 18% to $741.8 million, or $2.67 a diluted share, as the nation's largest homebuilder by volume pointed to rising mortgage rates and cautious buyers. It also raised its quarterly dividend 11% to $0.50 a share.

Diluted earnings per share fell 12% from a year earlier, according to the earnings release the Arlington, Texas-based company filed with an 8-K. Consolidated revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was $9.4 billion, with pre-tax income of $1.0 billion and a pre-tax profit margin of 10.8%.

"Housing market conditions became more challenging during the fourth quarter as rising mortgage rates, affordability constraints and cautious consumer sentiment continued to pressure new home demand," Executive Chairman David Auld said in the release. He said the company expects incentives "to remain elevated in fiscal 2027."

Orders slip, cancellations rise

Homebuilding revenue fell 2% to $8.4 billion on 22,915 homes closed, also down 2%. Net sales orders dropped 7% to 18,619 homes and 9% in value to $6.6 billion.

The cancellation rate climbed to 23% from 20% a year earlier. Results also included $91.4 million of inventory impairment charges tied to nine multi-family rental projects, which pushed the rental segment to a $25.3 million pre-tax loss for the quarter.

For the full fiscal year, net income fell 19% to $2.9 billion, or $10.11 a diluted share, on revenue of $33.0 billion.

Cash back to shareholders

D.R. Horton bought back 9.4 million shares for $1.4 billion in the quarter and 24.0 million shares for $3.6 billion over the year, cutting its share count 8% to 271.4 million. It had $4.7 billion left on its repurchase authorization.

The new $0.50 dividend is payable Nov. 19 to holders of record on Nov. 12. Auld said fiscal 2027 will be the company's thirteenth straight year of dividend growth.

Fiscal 2027 outlook

The company's initial guidance for fiscal 2027 calls for:

• Consolidated revenue of $30.0 billion to $32.0 billion
• 79,000 to 84,000 homes closed
• About $3.5 billion of operating cash flow
• About $3.0 billion of share repurchases
• About $500 million of dividend payments

Sources

1. D.R. Horton Form 8-K with fourth-quarter and fiscal 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 29, 2026 (accession 0000882184-26-000119)

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