Toll Brothers Slides As Forecast Shows Housing Slowdown

By Christiana Sciaudone

Investing.com —  Has the housing boom petered out? 

Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) is down 8% after announcing disappointing first quarter delivery and gross margin guidance, BTIG said.

With higher than expected deliveries, the homebuilder reported earnings per share of $1.55, beating the average estimate of $1.23 on sales of $2.55 billion, versus the expected $2.07 billion for the fourth quarter.

The company provided guidance for first quarter deliveries of approximately 1,675 homes with an average price of between $780,000 and $800,000, with adjusted home sales gross margin of about 22.4%.

“The guide seems at least in part driven by strong volume already delivered in 4Q which renders backlog thinner. Expectations for a margin beat this quarter may also be playing a role,” said analyst Carl E. Reichard, according to FXEmpire.com.   

For the fourth quarter, home building deliveries were 2,940, up 10%. Adjusted home sales gross margin, which excludes interest and inventory write-downs, was 24%.

Shares are up some 230% since March, when markets crumbled as the reality of the Covid-19 virus revealed itself and the U.S. shut down for business. Rivals Lennar (NYSE:LEN) and PulteGroup Inc (NYSE:PHM) were also trading lower on Tuesday..

Americans have fled cities this year for the suburbs, driving up demand for homes outside of urban centers and pushing homebuilders higher.