PulteGroup's Q4 Earnings & Revenues Top, Net New Orders Down

Core Insights - PulteGroup Inc. reported strong fourth-quarter 2024 results, with adjusted earnings and total revenues exceeding expectations and showing year-over-year growth [1][5] Financial Performance - Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) reached $3.50, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of$3.24 by 8%, and increased from $3.28 in the previous year [5] - Total revenues amounted to$4.92 billion, exceeding the consensus mark of $4.66 billion by 5.6$4.29 billion a year ago [5] - For the full year 2024, total revenues were $17.95 billion, up from$16.06 billion in 2023, with home sales revenues increasing to $17.32 billion from$15.6 billion [10] Business Segments - Homebuilding segment revenues rose to $4.81 billion from$4.2 billion, driven by a 13% increase in home sale revenues to $4.71 billion [6] - Financial Services segment revenues increased by 22.6$115.1 million, with pretax income rising 16% to $51 million [9] Operational Highlights - The number of homes closed increased by 6$581,000, up 6% year over year [7] - Net new home orders slightly declined by 0.8% year over year to 6,167 units, but the value of new orders rose by 4% to $3.51 billion [7] - The backlog of homes yet to be closed was 10,153 units, down 16.4$6.49 billion from $7.32 billion [7] Strategic Initiatives - The company invested approximately$5.3 billion into its business in 2024 and returned $1.4 billion to shareholders through stock repurchases and dividends [3] - To address ongoing affordability issues in the housing market, PulteGroup plans to continue operational changes to build sales backlog and inventory [4] Market Response - Following the earnings release, shares of PulteGroup gained 3.6% in pre-market trading [4]