Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BLH) turned a first-quarter profit with the homebuilder recording more home orders and closings.
The Atlanta-based builder posted earnings of $739,000, or 1 cent a share, on revenue of $188.5 million for the period ending Dec. 31. Beazer bested the concensus estimate that the homebuilder would lose 36 cents a share in the quarter, according to analysts polled by Yahoo Finance.
That compares to a net loss of $48.8 million, or 65 cents a share, on revenue of $108 million, for the year-ago quarter.
The firm shored up 724 new orders in 1Q, a 36% jump from fiscal 2011. Meanwhile, it closed on 867 homes, a 67% increase from the previous year.
The cancellation rate grew to 35.1% from 31.4% in 2011 during the most recent period.
Beazer controlled 25,998 lots in at the end of its first quarter, a 3% drop from a year earlier.
