Toll Brothers’ Q4 earnings blow away analyst expectations

Home builder Toll Brothers topped analyst estimates with the company’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings, as home prices soared alongside increasingly tight inventory.

Net income for the builder for the three months through October was $94.9 million, or $0.54 a share, the Pennsylvania-based company said. Analysts had predicted earnings of $0.43 a share, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $1.04 billion, up from $632.8 million one year earlier.

The company “easily beat consensus and our higher estimate, with the quality of that beat being solid,” Stephen East, an analyst at International Strategy & Investment Group, wrote in a note cited by Bloomberg. “We expect order trends will pick up as we move further away from the housing disruption seen in the autumn months.”

In New York City, Toll Brothers has been heavily investing in the Flatiron area as of late, purchasing a $150 million townhouse at 122-130 East 23rd Street in September and a residential development site at 55 West 17th Street for $68.5 million in October. The firm also unveiled pricing for its 108-unit townhouse-style development at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 and filed city Department of Buildings permits for the company’s first mixed-use project at Turtle Bay’s 953-961 First Avenue in November. [Bloomberg News] — Julie Strickland