
What Happened?
Shares of homebuilder D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) fell 3.4% in the afternoon session after the company reported mixed third-quarter results that included an earnings miss and a cautious outlook.
The homebuilder posted earnings of $3.04 per share, which fell short of the $3.29 analysts had expected. While revenue of $9.68 billion surpassed projections, it was not enough to offset concerns about the company's full-year revenue guidance, which came in below estimates. The results reflected a significant slowdown, with earnings per share declining 22% compared to the same period in the previous year. Company leadership noted that homebuyers faced challenges with affordability amid cautious consumer sentiment. Looking ahead, D.R. Horton's soft forecast signals ongoing market softness, suggesting it may need to continue offering incentives to attract buyers.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy D.R. Horton? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
D.R. Horton’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 10 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 21 days ago when the stock dropped 4.4% on the news that Evercore ISI downgraded the stock to 'In Line' from 'Outperform' and cut its price target to $169 from $185. The downgrade occurred amid a backdrop of broader market concerns, as the housing market continued to face headwinds from affordability issues and economic uncertainty.
D.R. Horton is up 12% since the beginning of the year, but at $154.09 per share, it is still trading 16.3% below its 52-week high of $184.04 from September 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of D.R. Horton’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,237.
Today’s young investors won’t have read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next.