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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 12 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2025
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Basis of Presentation The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and include the accounts of D.R. Horton, Inc. and all of its wholly owned, majority-owned and controlled subsidiaries, which are collectively referred to as the Company, unless the context otherwise requires. Noncontrolling interests represent the proportionate equity interests in consolidated entities that are not 100% owned by the Company. As of September 30, 2025, the Company owns a 62% controlling interest in Forestar Group Inc. (Forestar) and therefore is required to consolidate 100% of Forestar within its consolidated financial statements, and the 38% interest the Company does not own is accounted for as noncontrolling interests. All intercompany accounts, transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions. These estimates and assumptions affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Revenue Recognition Homebuilding revenue and related profit are generally recognized at the time of the closing of a sale, when title to and possession of the property are transferred to the buyer. The Company’s performance obligation, to deliver the agreed-upon home, is generally satisfied in less than one year from the original contract date. Proceeds from home closings held for the Company’s benefit at title companies are included in homebuilding cash and cash equivalents in the consolidated balance sheets. When the Company executes sales contracts with its homebuyers, or when it requires advance payment from homebuyers for custom changes, upgrades or options related to their homes, the cash deposits received are recorded as liabilities until the homes are closed or the contracts are cancelled. The Company either retains or refunds to the homebuyer deposits on cancelled sales contracts, depending upon the applicable provisions of the contract or other circumstances. Forestar’s land and lot sales revenue and related profit are generally recognized at the time of the closing of a sale, when title to and possession of the property are transferred to a third-party buyer. Forestar’s revenues from land and lot sales to D.R. Horton are eliminated in the consolidated financial statements. The Company rarely purchases unimproved land for resale, but periodically may elect to sell parcels of land that do not fit into its strategic operating plans. Revenue from land sales is typically recognized on the closing date, which is generally when performance obligations are satisfied. The Company’s rental operations develop, construct, lease and sell residential multi-family and single-family rental properties. Revenue is recognized from the sale of these properties on the closing date, which is when performance obligations are satisfied. Rental income from these properties is recognized as other income. Financial services revenues associated with the Company’s title operations are recognized as closing services are rendered and title insurance policies are issued, both of which generally occur simultaneously as each home is closed. Revenues associated with the Company’s mortgage operations primarily include net gains on the sale of mortgage loans and servicing rights. The Company typically elects the fair value option for its mortgage loan originations whereby mortgage loans held for sale are recorded at fair value based on either sale commitments or current market quotes and loan values are adjusted through revenues for subsequent changes in fair value until the loans are sold. Expected gains and losses from the sale of loans, adjusted for (i) estimated costs to complete and originate the loan and (ii) the estimated percentage of written loan commitments that will result in a closed mortgage loan, are included in the measurement of all written loan commitments that are accounted for at fair value through revenues at the time of commitment. The Company sells substantially all of the mortgages it originates and the related servicing rights to third-party purchasers, typically within 60 days of origination. Interest income is earned from the date a mortgage loan is originated until the loan is sold. Cash and Cash Equivalents The Company considers all highly liquid investments with an initial maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Proceeds from home closings held for the Company’s benefit at title companies, which totaled $341.7 million and $304.9 million at September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, are included in homebuilding cash and cash equivalents in the consolidated balance sheets. Cash balances of the Company’s captive insurance subsidiary, which are expected to be used to fund the subsidiary’s operations and pay future anticipated legal claims, were $68.5 million and $78.4 million at September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and are included in cash and cash equivalents in the consolidated balance sheets. Restricted Cash The Company has cash that is restricted as to its use. Restricted cash related to homebuilding and land development operations includes customer deposits that are temporarily restricted in accordance with regulatory requirements. Restricted cash related to financial services is mortgagor related funds held by the Company for taxes and insurance on an interim basis until the loans are sold. Inventories and Cost of Sales Inventory includes the costs of direct land acquisition, land development and construction, capitalized interest, real estate taxes and direct overhead costs incurred during development and construction. Costs incurred after projects or homes are substantially complete, such as utilities, maintenance and cleaning, are charged to selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expense as incurred. All indirect overhead costs, such as compensation of sales personnel, division and region management, and the costs of advertising and builder’s risk insurance are charged to SG&A expense as incurred. Land and development costs are typically allocated to individual residential lots on a pro-rata basis, and the costs of residential lots are transferred to construction in progress when home construction begins. Home construction costs are specifically identified and recorded to individual homes. Cost of sales for homes closed includes the specific construction costs of each home and all applicable land acquisition, land development and related costs (both incurred and estimated to be incurred) allocated to each residential lot based upon the total number of homes expected to be closed in each community. Cost of sales for lots sold includes all applicable land acquisition, land development and related costs (both incurred and estimated to be incurred) allocated to each residential lot in the community. Any changes to the estimated total development costs after the initial home or lot closings in a community are generally allocated on a pro-rata basis to the remaining homes or lots in the community associated with the relevant development activity. Development and construction costs incurred related to the rental operations are recorded as rental property inventory. Cost of sales related to the rental operations include the specific construction costs and all applicable land acquisition, land development and related costs for each rental project. When a home is closed, the Company generally has not paid all of the incurred costs necessary to complete the home. A liability and a corresponding charge to cost of sales are recorded for the amount estimated to ultimately be paid related to completed homes that have been closed. Home construction budgets are compared to actual recorded costs to determine the additional costs remaining to be paid on each closed home. The Company rarely purchases land for resale. However, when the Company owns land or communities under development that do not fit into its development and construction plans, and the Company determines that it will sell the asset, the project is accounted for as land held for sale if certain criteria are met. The Company records land held for sale at the lesser of its carrying value or fair value less estimated costs to sell. At the end of each quarter, the Company reviews the performance and outlook for all of its communities and land inventories for indicators of potential impairment. If indicators of impairment are present for a community, the Company performs an impairment evaluation of the community, which includes an analysis to determine if the undiscounted cash flows estimated to be generated by those assets are less than their carrying amounts. The Company’s estimate of undiscounted cash flows from communities analyzed may change and could result in a future need to record impairment charges to adjust the carrying value of these assets to their estimated fair value. There are several factors which could lead to changes in the estimates of undiscounted future cash flows for a given community. The most significant of these includes pricing and incentive levels realized by the community, the rate at which the homes are sold and the costs incurred to develop the lots and construct the homes. Pricing and incentive levels are often interrelated with sales pace in a community, such that a price reduction is typically expected to increase the sales pace. Further, both of these factors are heavily influenced by the competitive pressures facing a given community from both new and existing homes. If conditions in the broader economy, homebuilding industry or specific markets in which the Company operates worsen, and as the Company evaluates specific community pricing and incentives, construction and development plans, and its overall land sale strategies, it may be required to evaluate additional communities for potential impairment. This may result in impairment charges which could be significant. When events or circumstances indicate that the carrying values on finished homes in substantially completed communities and completed rental properties are greater than the fair values less estimated costs to sell these homes, impairment charges are also recorded. The key assumptions relating to inventory valuations are impacted by local market and economic conditions and are inherently uncertain. Due to uncertainties in the estimation process, actual results could differ from such estimates. See Note C. Capitalized Interest The Company capitalizes interest costs incurred to inventory during active development and construction (active inventory). Capitalized interest is charged to cost of sales as the related inventory is delivered to the buyer. During periods in which the Company’s active inventory is lower than its debt level, a portion of the interest incurred is reflected as interest expense in the period incurred. During fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, the Company’s active inventory exceeded its debt level, and all interest incurred was capitalized to inventory. See Note E. Land and Lot Purchase Contracts The Company enters into land and lot purchase contracts to acquire land or lots for the construction of homes. Under these contracts, the Company will fund a stated deposit in consideration for the right, but not the obligation, to purchase land or lots at a future point in time with predetermined terms. Under the terms of many of the purchase contracts, the deposits are not refundable in the event the Company elects to terminate the contract. Land purchase contract deposits and capitalized pre-acquisition costs are expensed to cost of sales when the Company believes it is probable that it will not acquire the property under contract and will not be able to recover these costs through other means. See Notes C and L. Variable Interests Land purchase contracts can result in the creation of a variable interest in the entity holding the land parcel under contract. No variable interest entities were consolidated in the Company’s balance sheets at September 30, 2025 or 2024 because, with regard to each entity, the Company determined it did not control the activities that most significantly impact the variable interest entity’s economic performance. The maximum exposure to losses related to the Company’s unconsolidated variable interest entities is limited to the amounts of the Company’s related deposits. At September 30, 2025 and 2024, the deposits related to these contracts totaled $2.1 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively, and are included in other assets in the consolidated balance sheets. Property and Equipment Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Repairs and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred. Depreciation generally is recorded using the straight-line method over the estimated useful life of the asset. The depreciable life of model home furniture is 2 years, depreciable lives of other furniture and equipment typically range from 2 to 5 years, and depreciable lives of buildings and improvements typically range from 5 to 30 years. See Note F. Business Acquisitions The Company accounts for acquisitions of businesses by allocating the purchase price of the business to the various assets acquired and liabilities assumed at their respective fair values. Any excess of the purchase price over the estimated fair values of the identifiable net assets acquired is recorded as goodwill. Significant judgment is often required in estimating the fair value of assets acquired, particularly intangible assets. These estimates and assumptions are based on historical experience, information obtained from the management of the acquired companies and the Company’s estimates of significant assumptions that a market participant would use when determining fair value. While the Company believes the estimates and assumptions are reasonable, they are inherently uncertain. Unanticipated market or macroeconomic events and circumstances may occur, which could affect the accuracy or validity of the estimates and assumptions. There were no material business acquisitions made in fiscal 2025. In October 2025, the Company acquired the homebuilding operations of SK Builders for approximately $80 million in cash. SK Builders operates in and around Greenville, South Carolina. The assets acquired included approximately 160 homes in inventory, 260 lots and a sales order backlog of 110 homes. The Company also obtained control of approximately 1,320 additional lots through land purchase contracts. Goodwill The Company records goodwill associated with its acquisitions of businesses when the purchase price of the business exceeds the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired. Goodwill balances are evaluated for potential impairment on at least an annual basis by performing a qualitative assessment to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads to a determination that it is more likely than not that the fair value of an operating segment with goodwill is less than its carrying amount. If the qualitative assessment indicates that additional impairment testing is required, then a quantitative assessment is performed to determine the operating segment’s fair value. The estimated fair value is determined by discounting the future cash flows of the operating segment to present value. If the carrying value of the operating segment exceeds its fair value, the Company records a goodwill impairment by the amount that an operating segment’s carrying value exceeds its fair value, not to exceed the carrying amount of goodwill. As a result of the qualitative assessments performed in fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, no impairment charges were indicated or recorded. The Company’s goodwill balances by reporting segment were as follows:
| September 30,
| 2025 |  | 2024
| (In millions)
Northwest | $ | 2.2 |  |  | $ | 2.2 |
Southwest | — |  |  | — |
South Central | 15.9 |  |  | 15.9 |
Southeast | 6.0 |  |  | 6.0 |
East | 60.5 |  |  | 60.5 |
North | 49.7 |  |  | 49.7 |
Forestar | 29.2 |  |  | 29.2 |
Total goodwill | $ | 163.5 |  |  | $ | 163.5 |
Warranty Claims The Company typically provides its homebuyers with a ten-year limited warranty for major defects in structural elements such as framing components and foundation systems, a two-year limited warranty on major mechanical systems and a one-year limited warranty on other construction components of the home. Since the Company subcontracts its construction work to subcontractors who typically provide it with an indemnity and a certificate of insurance prior to receiving payments for their work, claims relating to workmanship and materials are generally the primary responsibility of the subcontractors. Warranty liabilities have been established by charging cost of sales for each home delivered. The amounts charged are based on management’s estimate of the warranty-related costs expected to be incurred in the future. The Company’s warranty liability is based upon historical warranty cost experience in each market in which it operates. See Note L. Legal Claims and Insurance The Company records expenses and liabilities for legal claims related to construction defect matters, personal injury claims, employment matters, land development issues, contract disputes and other matters. The amounts recorded for these contingencies are based on the estimated costs of pending claims and the estimated costs of anticipated future claims related to previously closed homes. The Company estimates and records receivables under its applicable insurance policies for these legal claims when recovery is probable. However, because the self-insured retentions under these policies are significant, the Company anticipates it will largely be self-insured. Additionally, the Company may have the ability to recover a portion of its losses from its subcontractors and their insurance carriers when the Company has been named as an additional insured on their insurance policies. See Note L. Advertising Costs The Company expenses advertising costs as incurred. Advertising expense was approximately $108.2 million, $72.3 million and $64.7 million in fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and is included in SG&A expense in the consolidated statements of operations. Income Taxes The Company’s income tax expense is calculated using the asset and liability method, under which deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized based on the future tax consequences attributable to temporary differences between the financial statement amounts of assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases and attributable to net operating losses and tax credit carryforwards. When assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of its deferred tax assets will not be realized. The realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of sufficient taxable income in future periods and in the jurisdictions in which those temporary differences become deductible. The Company records a valuation allowance when it determines it is more likely than not that a portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The accounting for deferred taxes is based upon estimates of future results. Differences between the anticipated and actual outcomes of these future results could have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated results of operations or financial position. Also, changes in existing federal and state tax laws and tax rates could affect future tax results and the valuation of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities. See Note H. Interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits are recognized in the financial statements as a component of income tax expense. Significant judgment is required to evaluate uncertain tax positions. The Company evaluates its uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis. The evaluations are based upon a number of factors, including changes in facts or circumstances, changes in tax law, correspondence with tax authorities during the course of audits and effective settlement of audit issues. Changes in the recognition or measurement of uncertain tax positions could result in increases or decreases in the Company’s income tax expense in the period in which the change is made. The Company had no unrecognized tax benefits at September 30, 2025 or 2024. Earnings Per Share Basic earnings per share are based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during each year. Diluted earnings per share are based on the weighted average number of shares of common stock and dilutive securities outstanding during each year. See Note I. Stock-Based Compensation The Company’s stockholders formally authorize shares of its common stock to be available for future grants of stock-based compensation awards. From time to time, the Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors (Compensation Committee) authorizes the grant of stock-based compensation to its employees and directors from these available shares. At September 30, 2025, all outstanding stock-based compensation awards were in the form of restricted stock units. Grants of restricted stock units vest over a certain number of years as determined by the Compensation Committee. Restricted stock units outstanding at September 30, 2025 have a remaining vesting period up to 4.1 years. Compensation expense for restricted stock unit awards is based on the fair value of the award (the Company’s stock price on the date of grant) and is recognized on a straight-line basis over the remaining vesting period. See Note K. Fair Value Measurements The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s authoritative guidance for fair value measurements establishes a three-level hierarchy based upon the inputs to the valuation model of an asset or liability. When available, the Company uses quoted market prices in active markets to determine fair value. The Company considers the principal market and nonperformance risk associated with the Company’s counterparties when determining the fair value measurements, if applicable. Fair value measurements are used for the Company’s mortgage loans held for sale, mortgage servicing rights, interest rate lock commitments and other derivative instruments on a recurring basis and are used for inventories, other mortgage loans and real estate owned on a nonrecurring basis, when events and circumstances indicate that the carrying value is not recoverable. See Note N. Recent Accounting Pronouncements In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU 2023-07, “Segment Reporting - Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures,” which is intended to improve reportable segment disclosures. The ASU expands public entities’ segment disclosures by requiring disclosure of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker and included within each reported measure of segment profit or loss. It also requires disclosure of the amount and description of the composition of other segment items and interim disclosures of a reportable segment’s profit or loss and assets. The Company adopted this standard for the annual reporting period ended September 30, 2025, with retrospective disclosure of prior periods presented. See Note B for the related disclosures. In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes - Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures,” which requires disclosure of disaggregated income taxes paid, prescribes standard categories for the components of the effective tax rate reconciliation and modifies other income tax related disclosures. The standard is effective for the Company’s annual periods beginning in fiscal 2026. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this standard on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, “Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures,” which requires disclosure of certain costs and expenses on an interim and annual basis in the notes to the financial statements. The standard is effective for the Company’s annual periods beginning in fiscal 2028 and interim periods beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2029, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact this standard will have on its disclosures.

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