D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Mike Dahl: Great. Thanks for taking my question. So the first one, just to follow up on the margin discussion. I understand there’s not a lot of forward guidance you’re going to get beyond this next quarter and a level of uncertainty. I’m wondering just as you see it today, if you look at your current orders, as you look at what you’re expecting to sell in the quarter versus kind of the timing of some backlog still coming through in that gross margin that will be reported in fiscal 2Q. How should we be thinking about the likely cadence of margin beyond 2Q? Is it still barring some quick improvement in the market, going to be lower as you cycle off your backlog and into the recent sales as you get into fiscal 3Q, or any color on that?

Bill Wheat: Mike, we’re only guiding to Q2 margin. And the reason we’re only guiding to Q2 margin is we don’t know what margins or what the environment will be beyond Q2. The spring selling season, obviously, we’ve got some early encouraging signs but we don’t know what their conditions will be at the height of the spring selling season. So we have visibility to where our margins and our sales and our backlog and our pricing and our costs are today heading into the quarter but even Q2 had some level of uncertainty to it. We would expect to sell and close 40% of our closings in the same quarter in the coming quarters. So while we believe that there’s some possibility of some stability in the market with mortgage rates stable that could change this afternoon.

And so right now, we’re giving you what we get — what we have. So our guidance for margins of 20% to 21% is what we can see today for Q2. There is some risk, both upside and downside there. I would say it’s possible we could beat that range. But it’s certainly possible that we might not. But past Q2, we simply don’t have visibility right now.

Jessica Hansen: We’re going to continue to meet the market and do what we need to do to maximize returns community by community.

Mike Dahl: Okay. Fair enough. And then my second question, there’s been a lot in the press around Arizona, in particular, tightening up on some of the water rights and kind of permitting or lack of issuing permits in certain parts of the Phoenix, Metro area given some of the requirements around water usage. You guys obviously had your Vidler acquisition last year. I think they do have some projects in Arizona. Can you give us a sense of if the counties or municipalities are just outright refusing to issue permits to certain areas, does your €“ does your ownership of Vidler and the projects in those regions exempt you from that? Are you able to still get permits for your planned projects, or any color on what you’re seeing there would be, I think, interesting in light of some of the press that’s been out there?

David Auld: Well, yes, I think there has been a lot in the press on water and water is and will continue to be a headwind throughout the West, not just in Arizona. And certainly, our acquisition and integration of Vidler has helped our positioning and that’s really some benefit to the short-term, but mostly a long-term strategic decision on our part, knowing that we’re going to head these — facing these headwinds for the foreseeable future. I don’t think there’s been a significant change on a local basis. It’s still difficult to get lots on the ground to get entitlements through the process and to get those permits. It has been for a while, and that continues. So, we feel good about our position — the lot positions we have in the Phoenix market and we’ve got a great team on board there that continues to navigate through that environment.

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