Stocks in D.R. Horton Inc have risen, to the surprise of analysts. Horton is currently the biggest U.S. homebuilder and analysts had earlier predicted with Reuters Estimates that the company would have a quarter loss of .56 cents per share. However, the company came in at a lesser loss of .20 cents per share, giving them a total first-quarter loss of $62.6 million, their loss average for the previous year having been $128.8 million or .41 cents per share. Their results for this first quarter included about $56.2 million in  pre-tax charges for inventory purposes and write-offs for land option contracts they later did not use; a great deal lower then the $245.5 million accumulated in the past year.

Builders have had to struggle with the ongoing market crisis, which is thought to be the worst to hit the economy since the Great Depression. In order to survive many have had to lower their land value, which had hit a peak during 2002-2006, where the market was considered to have been at its height. Since the market has crashed, homebuilding revenue has fallen from $1.7 billion to about $900.3 million, which according to Anna Torma an analyst for the Soleil Group, reflects the harsher conditions of a splurge of dead homes on the market, tight lending conditions, and extreme home reduction in home prices. To combat this, builders have had to come up with ways to generate more cash, even if it results in a loss profit wise. Don Oppenheim, a Credit Suisse analyst,  reported that Horton´s generating over $196 million in cash from operations made this quarter, reflects "the company's aggressive pricing strategy and focus on cash,". Michael Rehaut, an analyst for JPMorgan, commented on Horton´s overall cash net this quarter, of $1.9 billion, saying "Cash flow and balance sheet remain strong, in our view.".