06:31 AM EDT, 06/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Lennar ( LEN ) shares rose early Tuesday as the company reported better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter revenue, while the homebuilder's outlook for fiscal third-quarter deliveries indicated growth on a sequential basis despite a softening housing market.

The company anticipates delivering between 22,000 and 23,000 homes in the ongoing quarter, it said late Monday. The current consensus on FactSet is for 23,293 home deliveries. The group recorded a 2% increase in deliveries to 20,131 homes in the first quarter, just ahead of the Street's view for 20,018 units.

"We continue to focus on consistent volume and pace as we drive efficiencies through every part of our platform in order to realize improved margin even as market conditions soften," co-Chief Executive Stuart Miller said in a statement.

New orders are pegged to be in a range of 22,000 to 23,000 homes for the third quarter, while the market is looking for 23,383 units. The group also expects gross margin on home sales to be at roughly 18% and forecasts an average sales price of $380,000 to $385,000 for the current three-month period.

Adjusted per-share earnings came in at $1.90 for the three months through May, down from $3.38 a year earlier, missing the average analyst estimate on FactSet for $1.95. Revenue declined to $8.38 billion from $8.77 billion, but topped the Street's expectation for $8.18 billion. The stock inclined 2.1% in the most recent premarket activity.

"While we continue to see softness in the housing market due to affordability challenges and a decline in consumer confidence, we adhered to our strategy of driving starts, sales, and closings in order to build long-term efficiencies in our business," according to Miller.

Homebuilding revenue dropped to $7.84 billion from $8.38 billion in the prior-year quarter. The average sales price moved down $389,000 from $426,000 last year amid persistent market weakness. New orders advanced 6% to 22,601 homes.

"As mortgage interest rates remained higher and consumer confidence continued to weaken, we drove volume with starts while incentivizing sales to enable affordability and help consumers to purchase homes," Miller said.

Gross margin on home sales was 17.8%, down from 22.6% in the 2024 quarter, just shy of analysts' estimate for 17.9%, amid lower revenue per square foot and higher land costs, according to the company.