ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA Inc. said Wednesday that its fiscal second-quarter loss narrowed as it reduced costs and saw an increase in new orders and closings.

Still, the homebuilder’s cancellation rate climbed during the period. The company remained cautiously optimistic about a sustained housing market recovery.

Beazer lost $39.9 million, or 51 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31. A year ago it lost $53.8 million, or 73 cents per share.

Loss from continuing operations was 48 cents per share. This included a $1.2 million inventory impairment charge and a $2.7 million loss on debt extinguishment.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected a loss of 42 cents per share.

Beazer’s stock shed 9 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $3.01 in morning trading. The shares have traded in a 52-week range of $1.35 to $4.49.

General and administrative expenses fell to $26.3 million from $36.1 million.

Quarterly revenue increased 52 percent to $191.6 million from $125.7 million, topping Wall Street’s estimate of $191.2 million.

New orders climbed 29 percent to 1,512 homes, with closings up 49.9 percent to 844 homes. The cancellation rate climbed to 22.5 percent from 20 percent.

Backlog from continuing operations was at 1,975 homes at quarter’s end. That’s up from 1,396 homes last year.

Beazer offers homes in 16 states.