Which is bigger, Lennar or D.R. Horton? By fiscal 2025 home volume, they were close: Lennar reported 82,583 deliveries, including unconsolidated entities, while D.R. Horton reported 84,863 homes closed. Their reported homebuilding revenue was also similar—$32 billion at Lennar and $31.5 billion at D.R. Horton—but the figures have different scope and classifications. Profitability is less straightforward: D.R. Horton reported a 21.5% fiscal 2025 home sales gross margin and a 13.1% homebuilding pre-tax margin; the cited figures do not establish a directly comparable annual Lennar margin.
Which is bigger, Lennar or D.R. Horton?
On reported fiscal 2025 home volume, D.R. Horton was slightly larger by its measure of homes closed. Lennar’s delivery count includes homes from unconsolidated entities, so the counts are close but not defined identically.
| Fiscal 2025 measure | Lennar | D.R. Horton |
|---|---|---|
| Homes delivered or closed | 82,583 deliveries, including unconsolidated entities (Lennar Corporation, 2025) | 84,863 homes closed (D.R. Horton, Inc., 2025) |
| Homebuilding revenue | $32 billion; approximately 94% of consolidated revenue (Lennar Corporation, 2025) | $31.5 billion (D.R. Horton, Inc., 2025) |
| Average price measure | $391,000 average sales price, excluding unconsolidated-entity deliveries (Lennar Corporation, 2025) | Not stated in the cited fiscal 2025 figures |
Revenue does not settle the size comparison by itself. Lennar’s figure is explicitly its homebuilding revenue and represents approximately 94% of consolidated revenue; D.R. Horton also reports homebuilding revenue, but the companies’ reporting scope and treatment of unconsolidated activity matter when reading the totals.
Lennar vs. D.R. Horton margins: compare like with like
Gross margin measures profitability after home sales costs, while pre-tax margin includes additional operating expenses. They are not interchangeable, and a gross-margin figure should not be ranked against a pre-tax-margin figure.
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| Period and measure | Lennar | D.R. Horton |
|---|---|---|
| Fiscal 2025 home sales gross margin | Not stated in the cited fiscal 2025 figures | 21.5% (D.R. Horton, Inc., 2025) |
| Fiscal 2025 homebuilding pre-tax margin | Not stated in the cited fiscal 2025 figures | 13.1% (D.R. Horton, Inc., 2025) |
| Latest cited fiscal third-quarter home sales gross margin | 15.8% in fiscal Q3 2026 (Lennar Corporation, 2026) | 20.7% in fiscal Q3 2026 (D.R. Horton, Inc., 2026) |
The two fiscal third quarters are not synchronized: Lennar’s fiscal year ends November 30, while D.R. Horton’s ends September 30. Their 2026 quarter figures therefore cover different calendar windows and offer context, not a same-period comparison.
What weighed on recent margins
In Lennar’s fiscal third quarter of 2026, home-sale revenue was $7.7 billion, down 6% year over year; deliveries were 20,840, down 3%, and average delivered price was $372,000, down 3%. Gross margin fell to 15.8% from 17.5% a year earlier. Lennar cited lower revenue per square foot and higher land costs as the main pressures, partly offset by lower construction costs. SG&A was 9.2% of home-sale revenue, compared with 8.2% a year earlier; the company cited lower revenue leverage and higher marketing and selling expenses.
D.R. Horton reported a 20.7% home sales gross margin in its fiscal third quarter of 2026. Management attributed pressure to lower average selling prices and higher incentives, including mortgage rate buydowns, and said incentives were expected to remain elevated into fiscal 2027. Incentives matter because they reduce the effective price paid by buyers and can weigh on reported margin; list prices alone would not capture that pressure.
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How do Lennar and D.R. Horton make money?
Both earn most of their homebuilding revenue by selling homes, but each also operates beyond that core. Lennar’s fiscal 2025 homebuilding revenue was approximately 94% of its consolidated revenue. D.R. Horton describes a broader operation that includes homebuilding, rental, Forestar lot development and financial services. The available figures do not provide a common segment-by-segment basis for comparing all of those activities.
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Lennar: land-light control and even-flow production
Lennar’s fiscal 2025 annual report identifies first-time, move-up, active-adult and luxury buyers as customer segments. It describes a land-light model intended to minimize owned homesites while controlling land through options, agreements, strategic land banks and joint ventures. The company also emphasizes purchasing leverage, technology, cost reduction and its “Everything’s Included” offering.
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On home production, Lennar describes standardized Core Plans, local operating decisions under centralized oversight, and even-flow construction. Its stated approach allows pricing to adjust, with gross margin acting as a “shock absorber,” to support consistent starts and sales pace. This is a description of intended management trade-offs, not evidence on its own that the approach improves returns.
D.R. Horton: owned lots, contracts and developer relationships
D.R. Horton combines owned land with lots under purchase contracts and relationships with lot developers. At fiscal 2025 year-end, it reported 147,000 owned lots and 444,900 lots controlled through purchase contracts. It reported that 65% of fiscal 2025 closings were on lots developed by Forestar or third parties.
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At June 30, 2026, 78% of D.R. Horton’s owned-and-controlled lot position was under purchase contracts. For the first nine months of fiscal 2026, 67% of closings were on lots developed by Forestar or third parties. These figures indicate substantial use of contracted lots and outside or affiliate development; they do not mean D.R. Horton owns no land. The company also describes adjusting pricing, incentives, product and inventory to local demand.
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Demand, sales pace and the role of incentives
Homebuilders can respond to affordability pressure by changing prices, offering incentives, adjusting product mix or managing the pace of construction and sales. Those choices affect sales velocity and margin together. A lower selling price or mortgage-rate buydown may help attract buyers, but it can also reduce revenue per home or increase the cost of securing a sale.
D.R. Horton reported $22.3 billion in homebuilding revenue and 61,287 closings for the nine months ended June 30, 2026. Its fiscal 2026 homebuilding closing guidance was 83,800–84,300 homes, as of the company’s July 2026 release. Guidance is a company forecast, not a completed result. The company’s release defines its cancellation rate as cancellations divided by gross orders; cancellation figures should be read using that denominator rather than treated as a share of net orders.
Lennar’s reported third-quarter trends—lower delivered price and revenue per square foot alongside higher land costs—show a different combination of pressures from D.R. Horton’s emphasis on lower average selling prices and elevated buyer incentives. Because the periods differ, these disclosures should not be read as evidence that one company faced a more favorable market in the same quarter.
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The fiscal 2025 figures show two homebuilders operating at similar reported volume and homebuilding revenue, while D.R. Horton’s cited annual margins provide a clear distinction between gross and pre-tax profitability. They do not establish an annual margin winner because the cited evidence does not include a comparable Lennar annual margin. Recent quarter margins are also not synchronized, and management’s strategy descriptions do not demonstrate which land or production model will perform better.
D.R. Horton CEO David V. Auld said in the company’s October 28, 2025 fiscal-year earnings release: “Our strong liquidity, low leverage, experienced operators and national scale provide us with significant financial and operational flexibility to grow our business and provide attractive shareholder returns.” This is management’s characterization of the company, rather than independent verification of its competitive position.
This operating comparison does not determine which stock is more attractive. The figures here do not establish valuation, future earnings, consensus expectations or a buy-or-sell conclusion.
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