PulteGroup revenue falls 9% to $3.9 billion as earnings miss estimates
Key Facts
PulteGroup reported a 9% year-on-year decline in home sales revenue to $3.9 billion in the third quarter of 2026, while earnings fell short of analysts' expectations. The results, announced on October 22, showed lower revenue from home sales, with deliveries declining and gross margins under pressure. Quarterly net income totaled $475.7 million, compared with $585.8 million in the third quarter of 2025, according to the Wall Street Journal. Earnings per share fell to $2.53 from $2.96 in the corresponding period a year earlier. Earnings per share missed analysts' average estimate of $2.59, according to FactSet data cited by the newspaper, adding an earnings miss to the company's year-on-year decline in results.
The results came as high mortgage rates weighed on home sales and prices, according to the Wall Street Journal. Chief Executive Ryan Marshall said on the earnings call that customer traffic at the company's communities fell year on year, describing the decline as "14% compared with the previous year." In terms of completed sales, the company said it closed and delivered 6,876 homes during the third quarter of the current year. It had delivered 7,529 homes in the corresponding quarter of 2025, when home sales revenue totaled $4.2 billion, according to the earnings release for that period. The average selling price of homes delivered in the latest reported quarter was $561,000, according to the company's statement, with fewer homes reaching closing than a year earlier.
The pressure extended to profitability in the home sales business, with the gross margin narrowing to 24.8% in the third quarter from 26.2% in the same period a year earlier. The results included a $26 million land impairment charge, which the company said affected its home sales margin. On new contracts, PulteGroup recorded net orders for 6,208 homes during the third quarter of 2026, according to its original earnings release. Those orders were valued at $3.5 billion, putting the decline in orders alongside lower completed sales in the period's results. By comparison, the company had reported net new orders for 6,638 homes worth $3.6 billion in the third quarter of 2025, leaving new contracts lower year on year in both volume and value.
PulteGroup ended the third quarter with a backlog of 10,298 homes, according to the company's statement, alongside the new orders recorded during the period. The reported value of that backlog was $6.4 billion at quarter-end, reflecting the volume of accumulated contracts in terms of both homes and value. In capital management, the company spent $350 million repurchasing its shares during the third quarter. The buyback spending came during the same period in which net income declined and the home sales margin narrowed. The reported cash balance at quarter-end was $1.4 billion, according to the earnings release, following the period in which the company repurchased shares.
In trading on the day the results were announced, Investing.com reported that the company's shares, PHM, rose 0.64% to $113.62 in a trading snapshot dated October 22, 2026. For the following period, management outlined its expectations for home deliveries in the fourth quarter of the current year on the earnings call. It said it expected to "close between 7,000 and 7,500 homes in the fourth quarter," according to the call transcript published by the website. Management's targeted delivery range exceeds the number of homes it closed in the reported third quarter. The guidance for the final period of 2026 follows a quarter in which customer traffic and new orders declined, alongside lower revenue and earnings compared with a year earlier.