Shares of Lennar Corp. were indicated up more than 5% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the homebuilder reported fiscal second-quarter profit, revenue and new orders that beat expectations, with gross margins improving despite higher materials and wage costs. Net income rose to $1.32 billion, or $4.49 a share, from $831.4 million, or $2.65 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding mark-to-market losses on technology investments, earnings per share came in at $4.69. The FactSet EPS consensus was $3.95. Total revenue grew 30.0% to $8.36 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $8.12 billion, as homebuilding revenue increased 32.3%^ to $7.98 billion. Homebuilding net margins improved to 23.5% from 18.6%. New orders rose 4% to 17,792 homes, above the FactSet consensus of 17,429. For the third quarter, the company expects new orders of 16,000 to 18,000, surrounding the FactSet consensus of 16,754. The stock has tumbled 44.4% year to date through Friday, while the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF has dropped 40.7% and the S&P 500 has shed 22.9%.
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