PulteGroup Reports Q4 Revenue Miss

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) kicked off 2025 with earnings that outpaced Wall Street forecasts, giving its stock a 7% boost intra-day today despite a cooling housing market weighed down by affordability concerns.

In the first quarter, the homebuilder posted earnings per share of $2.57, edging past the $2.47 average estimate. Revenue also topped expectations at $3.89 billion, a slight improvement from projections, though still reflecting a 2% dip from the same period last year.

The decline in revenue stemmed largely from a year-over-year drop in home sale income, slipping from $3.7 billion as the company felt the pressure of broader economic strain and shrinking consumer purchasing power. Net income slid to $523 million, down from $663 million a year earlier, as the current quarter lacked the one-time financial boosts that lifted results in early 2024. Those previous gains included earnings from a joint venture sale and a sizable insurance payout.

Margins also narrowed slightly, with the home sale gross margin settling at 27.5%, reflecting a 210-basis-point decline year-over-year. While still solid, the dip illustrates rising cost pressures and less pricing power in today’s housing environment.

Order activity softened as well. Net new home orders dropped to 7,765 units valued at $4.5 billion, compared to 8,379 units worth $4.7 billion in the prior year. The company pointed to consumer hesitation amid higher costs and economic uncertainty as key reasons for the pullback in demand.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) kicked off 2025 with earnings that outpaced Wall Street forecasts, giving its stock a 7% boost intra-day today despite a cooling housing market weighed down by affordability concerns.

In the first quarter, the homebuilder posted earnings per share of $2.57, edging past the $2.47 average estimate. Revenue also topped expectations at $3.89 billion, a slight improvement from projections, though still reflecting a 2% dip from the same period last year.

The decline in revenue stemmed largely from a year-over-year drop in home sale income, slipping from $3.7 billion as the company felt the pressure of broader economic strain and shrinking consumer purchasing power. Net income slid to $523 million, down from $663 million a year earlier, as the current quarter lacked the one-time financial boosts that lifted results in early 2024. Those previous gains included earnings from a joint venture sale and a sizable insurance payout.

Margins also narrowed slightly, with the home sale gross margin settling at 27.5%, reflecting a 210-basis-point decline year-over-year. While still solid, the dip illustrates rising cost pressures and less pricing power in today’s housing environment.

Order activity softened as well. Net new home orders dropped to 7,765 units valued at $4.5 billion, compared to 8,379 units worth $4.7 billion in the prior year. The company pointed to consumer hesitation amid higher costs and economic uncertainty as key reasons for the pullback in demand.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter profits, benefiting from a surge in demand for new homes as the supply of existing homes remained tight. But, the company’s shares dropped more than 6% intra-day today.

With many U.S. homeowners opting to hold onto their lower mortgage rates secured during periods of cheaper borrowing, the housing market has seen a notable shortage of resale inventory, pushing prospective buyers toward newly built homes despite rising prices.

For the quarter, PulteGroup posted net income of $698 million, a 9.3% increase year-over-year. This resulted in diluted earnings per share of $3.35, exceeding the consensus estimates. Revenue also grew by 11.8% to $4.48 billion, outperforming expectations.

The company's performance was fueled by a 12% increase in completed home sales, with 7,924 units sold during the quarter. The average selling price remained steady at $548,000 compared to the previous year. Additionally, PulteGroup saw a 3% rise in net new orders, valued at $3.9 billion.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) reported stronger-than-expected third-quarter profits, benefiting from a surge in demand for new homes as the supply of existing homes remained tight. But, the company’s shares dropped more than 6% intra-day today.

With many U.S. homeowners opting to hold onto their lower mortgage rates secured during periods of cheaper borrowing, the housing market has seen a notable shortage of resale inventory, pushing prospective buyers toward newly built homes despite rising prices.

For the quarter, PulteGroup posted net income of $698 million, a 9.3% increase year-over-year. This resulted in diluted earnings per share of $3.35, exceeding the consensus estimates. Revenue also grew by 11.8% to $4.48 billion, outperforming expectations.

The company's performance was fueled by a 12% increase in completed home sales, with 7,924 units sold during the quarter. The average selling price remained steady at $548,000 compared to the previous year. Additionally, PulteGroup saw a 3% rise in net new orders, valued at $3.9 billion.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) released its fourth-quarter results, with revenues falling short of Wall Street's expectations. The company reported its fourth-quarter earnings per share (EPS) at $3.28, a decrease from the $3.85 reported in the same period last year but higher than the consensus estimates of $3.21. However, PulteGroup's revenue for the quarter was $4.29 billion, a 17% decline year-over-year and below analysts' expectations of $4.48 billion.

In terms of home closures, PulteGroup completed 7,615 homes in the quarter, marking a 14% decrease from the previous year and falling short of the anticipated 8,026. On a positive note, net new orders saw a significant increase of 57% year-over-year to 6,214, surpassing Wall Street's estimates of 5,675.

Additionally, the company's home sale gross margin declined slightly to 28.9% in the fourth quarter, compared to 29.4% in the same quarter the previous year.

RBC Capital analysts provided their views on PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) after hosting a virtual investor meeting with CFO Bob O’Shaughnessy. The company is continuing to see a broad-based demand recovery though did not provide any post-quarter quantification.

According to the analysts, management chalks up more resilient demand and pricing power in part due to share shift given the lack of existing home supply as well as builders’ ability to better incentivize around mortgage rates.

The company is currently running a national 4.99% mortgage rate buy-down program, which has been an effective tool to bring buyers in – the exact rate level and cost of this program will vary somewhat depending on prevailing headline rates.