By Arti Patel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Homebuilder stocks surged
Thursday as upbeat second-quarter earnings from PulteGroup Inc. and
Meritage Homes Corp. helped lift the sector a day after it was
roughed up by disappointing June new home sales data.
Pulte (PHM) hit a 52-week intraday high of $11.95 a share
Thursday. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based home builder's 18.5%
pop followed strong earnings.
"On Pulte, they beat on earnings per share and they beat on
orders and margins specifically," said Megan McGrath, a
homebuilding analyst for MKM Partners. "They had been a laggard on
those metrics for the last couple quarters so expectations were
lower and so when they beat, the outperformance was greater."
Pulte's second-quarter new home orders jumped 32%
year-over-year, spurred by an 8% increase in average selling price
and 5% increase in closings. Pulte shares closed Thursday at $11.86
a share.
McGrath noted that investors were cautious after the Department
of Housing and Urban Development reported sales of new
single-family homes fell 8.4% in June, a five month low.
The gloomy report triggered an investor selloff Wednesday.
"There was some panic selling there," McGrath said. "Confidence
is still on shaky ground and these stocks will continue trading
aggressively. It's pretty volatile right now."
Their big rebound Thursday was investors' response to increases
in order growth posted by both Pulte and Meritage (MTH), an
indicator of future revenue and current market health.
Meritage said accelerated demand in key states such as
California and Arizona drove the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company to
its highest home orders and total order value in four years.
The stock rose 3% to close at $37.23, hitting a 52-week high
along the way.
Ryland Group, Inc. (RYL) also released second-quarter profits in
line with analyst expectations Thursday, but saw its stock dip 6
cents a share to close at $24.75 despite a 41.6% increase in new
orders and better-than-expected revenues and gross margins.
D.R. Horton, Inc. (DHI) might see similar results after it
reports earnings Friday.
"D.R. Horton reached profitability a while ago," McGrath said.
"They're the biggest home builder in the U.S. so it's harder for
them to see new home growth. Expectations are higher for them going
in and I expect solid profitability."
According to McGrath, "the sector's had a good year and they're
trading up healthy multiples" with the next five to 12 month
outlook positive as "we're bouncing off such a low bottom."
However, for the sector to see continued growth, the two to
three-year outlook requires an improvement in overall employment
and relative stability on the macroeconomic level.
Another sector issue is the increased distance between the
public and private homebuilding companies.
"The public home builders are probably around 25% of total new
home sales in the U.S.," McGrath said. "Public home builders are
gaining share over private home builders"
The Commerce Department last week reported June housing starts
rose 6.9% from May and 23.6% from a year ago.
"In June, new home starts hit their highest level since October
2008, and housing permits are up 29% in the first six months of the
year compared to last," acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca
Blank said in a statement.
"Public home builders over the last year have had access to
capital and have been able to buy new land and new lots to position
themselves in the market," McGrath said. "That's harder to do for a
private home builder."
Other sector stocks advancing Thursday include Fortune Brands
Home & Security, Inc. (FBHS) , up 3% to close at $21.33, Toll
Brothers, Inc. (TOL) up 4.9% to $30.74, and Lennar Corp. (LEN) up
4% to $30.19 a share.
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