D.R. Horton Will Lead Housing Industry to Recovery, CEO Says

D.R. Horton CEO Don Tomnitz was chock-full of praise and pride Friday during the company's second quarter earnings call, taking time to thank profusely all the company's employees for helping it achieve something that even he wasn't sure would be possible-- profitability for the second quarter in a row. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company posted earnings of $0.04 per share for its second quarter, beating the consensus of analysts' estimates by a nickel and last year's same quarter loss of $0.34 per share. The company was able to convert a record 103% of its backlog into closings, which were up by 19% to 4,260 homes. Margins were 18%. An even more impressive number was the 6,438 in sales orders the company collected in the quarter, up 55% over the same quarter in 2009 and 59% from its first quarter. "It's all about sales," Tomnitz said during his opening remarks. "One of our Hortonisms is: 'Nothing happens until we sell something.'"

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