| Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN and LEN.B), one of the nation's leading homebuilders, today reported results for its third quarter ended August 31, 2024. Third-quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2024 were $1.2 billion, or $4.26 per diluted share, compared to third-quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2023 of $1.1 billion, or $3.87 per diluted share. Excluding mark-to-market gains of $39 million on technology investments and one-time items of $89 million in the Company's Multifamily segment, third-quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2024 were $1.1 billion, or $3.90 per diluted share. Excluding mark-to-market losses of $16 million on technology investments, third-quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2023 were $1.1 billion or $3.91 per diluted share. |
| Stuart Miller, Executive Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Lennar, said, "We are pleased to report another solid quarterbacked by an economic environment that remains very constructive for homebuilders. Employment was strong, housing supply remained chronically short due to production deficits of over a decade, and demand was solid driven by strong household formation. Although affordability continued to be tested during the quarter, purchasers remained responsive to increased sales incentives, resulting in a 16% increase in our deliveries and a 5% increase in our new orders year over year." |
| "This week, the Fed decreased interest rates which should start to enhance affordability and accelerate the already strong demand for both new and existing homes. While strong demand, enabled by incentives and mortgage rate buydowns, has driven the new home market over the past two years, we fully expect an even stronger, and more broad-based demand cycle, as rates move lower. Lower rates and controlled inflation will likely boost confidence." |
| "Against this backdrop, earnings were $1.2 billion, or $4.26 per diluted share. We delivered 21,516 homes in our third quarter and our new orders were 20,587. Our average sales price, net of incentives, per home delivered was $422,000 in the third quarter, slightly down from last year, and our homebuilding gross margin in the third quarter was 22.5%, mildly lower than expectations, and offset by SG&A expenses of 6.7%, which were better than expectations, resulting in a 15.8% net margin." |
| "Driven by this quarter's strong operating performance, we constructively allocated capital while we continued to strengthen and fortify our balance sheet. During the quarter, we repurchased $519 million of our common stock, and had no outstanding borrowings on our $2.2 billion revolver and cash of $4.0 billion, ending the quarter with homebuilding debt to total capital of 7.6%. With cash on hand exceeding our debt, and with overall liquidity of $6.2 billion, our balance sheet remains extremely strong. Against that backdrop, we remain focused on our 'land strategies' initiatives to intensify our land light focus and assure consistency of execution now and in the future as we embrace an ever-more focused manufacturing model for Lennar." |
| Jon Jaffe, Co-Chief Executive Officer and President of Lennar said, "Operationally, our starts pace and sales pace were 5.4 homes and 5.5 homes per community in the third quarter, respectively, as we continue to move closer to an even flow operating model. Our cycle time was down to 140 days, or 23% lower year over year, as our production first focus has positively impacted our production times, while our inventory turn improved to 1.6 times reflecting broader efficiencies. Concurrently, the Lennar Machine continued to carefully match our sales pace to our production pace using our digital marketing and dynamic pricing models." |
| "During the quarter, we continued the migration to our land light strategy. This was evidenced by our year's supply of owned homesites improving to 1.1 years from 1.5 years last year and our controlled homesite percentage increasing to 81% from 73% year over year. These results drove our return on inventory to 31.3%, a year-over-year improvement of 320 basis points." |
| Mr. Miller concluded, "We continue to remain enthusiastic about our current execution and our future. We have remained focused on our operating strategies, while at the same time being observant of current economic and market trends. As we look ahead to our fourth quarter, we expect to deliver between 22,500 and 23,000 homes with a gross margin flat with our third quarter. We will continue to fortify our balance sheet with significant liquidity and operate from a position of strength, thus enabling us to continue to execute our core strategies to drive strong cash flow and higher returns." |
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| Lennar Corporation |
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