PulteGroup third-quarter profit falls to $476 million on fewer home closings

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) said Thursday that third-quarter net income was $476 million, or $2.53 per diluted share, down from $586 million, or $2.96 per share, a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing.

The Atlanta-based homebuilder reported results for the quarter ended Sept. 30 in an earnings release attached to a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Here's how the company did:

• Earnings per share: $2.53 diluted vs. $2.96 a year earlier
• Net income: $476 million vs. $586 million a year earlier
• Revenue: $3.97 billion vs. $4.40 billion a year earlier

Home sale revenues were $3.9 billion, a decrease of 9% from $4.2 billion in the prior year period.

Closings fell 9% to 6,876 homes, while the average sales price dropped 1% to $561,000.

Home sale gross margin was 24.8%, compared with 26.2% a year earlier. That figure includes $26 million, or approximately 70 basis points, of land impairments recorded in the quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $397 million, or 10.3% of home sale revenues, compared with $401 million, or 9.4%, a year earlier.

“With homebuying demand increasingly pressured by rising mortgage rates, widespread inflation, and global unrest, we continue to benefit from our diversified operating platform and consistent strategies for delivering superior returns over the housing cycle,” said President and CEO Ryan Marshall.

Marshall also said: “With more than 60% of our business now comprised of more profitable move-up and active-adult homebuyers, our strong gross margins were instrumental to driving third quarter earnings of $2.53 per share.”

“The rapid increase in interest rates has stretched affordability even further, made selling an existing home even harder, and has pushed even more consumers to the sidelines,” Marshall said.

For the first nine months of 2026, net income was $1.29 billion, or $6.79 per diluted share, compared with $1.72 billion, or $8.55 per share, a year earlier.

Orders and backlog

Net new orders totaled 6,208 homes, down 6% from 6,638 a year earlier. The value of those orders was $3.5 billion, compared with $3.6 billion in the prior year period.

Backlog at the end of the quarter stood at 10,298 homes with a value of $6.4 billion. A year earlier it was 9,888 homes valued at $6.2 billion.

The average community count was 1,077, an increase of 7% from the prior year period.

Financial services and capital return

Financial services pre-tax income was $46 million, comparable with the prior year period. The mortgage capture rate was 85%, up from 84%.

The company repurchased 2.8 million common shares in the quarter for $350 million, at an average price of $124.70 per share.

Through the first nine months, it repurchased 8.4 million shares, or 4% of shares outstanding, for $1.0 billion, at an average price of $123.51 per share.

Cash dividends declared were $0.26 per share in the quarter, compared with $0.22 a year earlier.

The company ended the quarter with $1.4 billion of cash and a debt-to-capital ratio of 12.1%, up from 11.2% at Dec. 31, 2025.

Conference call and outlook

A conference call on the results is scheduled for Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Investors can access the live webcast on the company's website, www.pultegroup.com.

The release did not include financial guidance for future periods.