PulteGroup's Q3 net income rose to US$639M from US$628M a year ago on home sale revenues up 3% to US$3.9B, net new orders increased 43% to 7,065 homes; increase in revenue driven by rise in average sales price of homes closed to US$549,000

ATLANTA – Oct. 24, 2023 – PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) announced today financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2023.  For the quarter, the Company reported net income of $639 million, or $2.90 per share.  In the prior year period, the Company reported net income of $628 million, or $2.69 per share.    
 
“PulteGroup’s third quarter results show a continuation of recent positive trends, as top line revenue growth combined with strong margin performance drove record third quarter earnings of $2.90 per share,” said Ryan Marshall, PulteGroup President and CEO.  “Earnings growth and disciplined balance sheet management allowed the Company to realize a return on equity* of 30.1%, while using the resulting cash flows to invest in our business, to repurchase $300 million of common shares, to retire $65 million of senior notes and to further strengthen our overall liquidity profile.”
 
 “Fed actions and broader market forces have combined to push interest rates to 20-year highs, but the fundamental desire for homeownership is strong while the supply of houses remains constrained,” added Mr. Marshall.  “PulteGroup’s ability to offer a variety of locations, price points, floor plans and incentive packages allows us to meet consumer needs while helping to address the affordability challenges caused by today’s higher rates.”
 
Third Quarter Results
 
The Company’s third quarter home sale revenues increased 3% over the prior year to $3.9 billion.  Higher revenues for the period were driven primarily by a 2% increase in the average sales price of homes closed to $549,000, as closings increased by less than 1% to 7,076 homes.
 
For its third quarter, the Company reported home sale gross margin of 29.5%, compared with prior year gross margin of 30.5%.  Homebuilding SG&A expense for the period was $353 million, or 9.1% of home sale revenues compared with $350 million, or 9.2% in the prior year period. 
 
In the third quarter, the Company’s net new orders increased 43% over the prior year to 7,065 homes.  The value of net new orders in the period increased 36% over last year to $3.8 billion.  The Company’s average community count for the third quarter was 923, which is up 12% from the comparable prior year period.   
 
The Company’s unit backlog at the end of the third quarter was 13,547 homes with a value of $8.1 billion. 
 
Third quarter pre-tax income for the Company's financial services operations increased 5% over the prior year to $29 million.  Mortgage capture rate for the third quarter was 84%, up from 77% last year.
The Company’s third quarter pre-tax income totaled $847 million, which is an increase of 4% over the prior year.  Income tax expense for the third quarter was $209 million, or an effective tax rate of 24.6%. 
 
In the third quarter, PulteGroup repurchased 3.8 million of its common shares for $300 million, or an average price of $79.84 per share.   Through the first nine months of 2023, PulteGroup has repurchased 10.2 million common shares, or 4.5% of shares outstanding, for $700 million, or $68.76 per share.  During the third quarter, the Company also retired a total of $65 million of its 2026 and 2027 senior notes via open market repurchases.  After these equity and debt repurchases, the Company ended the quarter with $1.9 billion of cash and a debt-to-capital ratio of 16.5%.
 
A conference call discussing PulteGroup's third quarter 2023 results is scheduled for Tuesday, October 24, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.  Interested investors can access the live webcast via PulteGroup's corporate website at www.pultegroupinc.com.
 
* The Company's return on equity is calculated as net income for the trailing twelve months divided by average shareholders' equity, where average shareholders' equity is the sum of ending shareholders' equity balances of the trailing five quarters divided by five.
 
Forward-Looking Statements
This release includes “forward-looking statements.” These statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities, as well as those of the markets we serve or intend to serve, to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these statements. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate to matters of a strictly factual or historical nature and generally discuss or relate to forecasts, estimates or other expectations regarding future events. Generally, the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “project,” “may,” “can,” “could,” “might,” “should,” “will” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, including statements related to any potential impairment charges and the impacts or effects thereof, expected operating and performing results, planned transactions, planned objectives of management, future developments or conditions in the industries in which we participate and other trends, developments and uncertainties that may affect our business in the future.
 
Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among other things: interest rate changes and the availability of mortgage financing; the impact of any changes to our strategy in responding to the cyclical nature of the industry or deteriorations in industry changes or downward changes in general economic or other business conditions, including any changes regarding our land positions and the levels of our land spend; economic changes nationally or in our local markets, including inflation, deflation, changes in consumer confidence and preferences and the state of the market for homes in general; labor supply shortages and the cost of labor; the availability and cost of land and other raw materials used by us in our homebuilding operations; a decline in the value of the land and home inventories we maintain and resulting possible future writedowns of the carrying value of our real estate assets; competition within the industries in which we operate; governmental regulation directed at or affecting the housing market, the homebuilding industry or construction activities, slow growth initiatives and/or local building moratoria; the availability and cost of insurance covering risks associated with our businesses, including warranty and other legal or regulatory proceedings or claims; damage from improper acts of persons over whom we do not have control or attempts to impose liabilities or obligations of third parties on us; weather related slowdowns; the impact of climate change and related governmental regulation; adverse capital and credit market conditions, which may affect our access to and cost of capital; the insufficiency of our income tax provisions and tax reserves, including as a result of changing laws or interpretations; the potential that we do not realize our deferred tax assets; our inability to sell mortgages into the secondary market; uncertainty in the mortgage lending industry, including revisions to underwriting standards and repurchase requirements associated with the sale of mortgage loans, and related claims against us; risks related to information technology failures or data security issues; failure to retain key personnel; the disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (or another epidemic or pandemic or similar public threat or fear of such an event), and the measures taken to address it; the effect of cybersecurity incidents and threats; and other factors of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business and competitive nature. See Item 1A – Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 for a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties applicable to our businesses. We undertake no duty to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or changes in our expectations.
 
About PulteGroup
PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM), based in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of America’s largest homebuilding companies with operations in more than 40 markets throughout the country. Through its brand portfolio that includes Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, American West and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, the company is one of the industry’s most versatile homebuilders able to meet the needs of multiple buyer groups and respond to changing consumer demand. PulteGroup’s purpose is building incredible places where people can live their dreams.
 
For more information about PulteGroup, Inc. and PulteGroup brands, go to pultegroup.com; pulte.com; centex.com; delwebb.com; divosta.com; jwhomes.com; and americanwesthomes.com.  Follow PulteGroup, Inc. on Twitter: @PulteGroupNews.