Closings up 9%, orders up 8%, backlog up 3%.
Builder
Meritage Homes Corporation, Scottsdale (NYSE:MTH) on Friday morning reported net income of $42.6 million ($1.02 per diluted share) for the third quarter of 2017, compared to prior year net earnings of $36.9 million ($0.88 per diluted share), Analysts were expecting a gain of $0.93 per share.
Home closing revenue increased 9% over the prior year on higher closing volume. Despite increases in market prices of homes over 2016, average closing prices remained constant with the third quarter of 2016, as a higher percentage of home closings were lower-priced entry-level homes. Both the West and Central regions delivered 19% year-over-year increases in home closing revenue, reflecting strong growth in Arizona and Texas. A 12% decline in East region home closing revenue reflected 14% fewer closings due to fewer orders during the first half of 2017 than 2016, as well as delays due to Hurricane Irma.
