This Home Builder’s Earnings Were So Bad It Hammered All Housing Stocks
Dec 04, 2025 17:24:00 -0500 by Evie Liu | #Real Estate #Earnings Report
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Key Points
- Hovnanian Enterprises’ stock dropped 22.5% after reporting a fourth-quarter loss of 51 cents per share, contrasting with $12.79 earnings a year ago.
- Fourth-quarter revenue for Hovnanian was $817.9 million, a decline from $979.6 million in the prior year.
- Hovnanian’s consolidated contracts decreased 10.8% to 1,209 homes due to rising mortgage rates and affordability constraints.
New Jersey-based home builder Hovnanian Enterprises had a bad quarter that caused its shares to plunge by double-digits—and dragged down other housing stocks.
Shares fell 23% on Thursday, and concerns about its report spilled over to other home builder stocks as well. D.R. Horton fell by 2.6%, Lennar dropped 4.8%, PulteGroup lost 1.9%, Toll Brothers slipped 1.2%, and KB Home tumbled 2.5%. The exchange-traded fund closed 1.8% lower.
Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Source: FactSet
Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Homebuilders ETFHovnanianDec. 44 p.m.-25.0-22.5-20.0-17.5-15.0-12.5-10.0-7.5-5.0-2.502.5%
The company posted a loss of 51 cents per share in the fourth quarter, a contrast to the $12.79 per-share earnings in the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a gain of 63 cents. Land charges and refinancing expenses have weighed on profits, according to the firm.
Hovnanian’s revenue of $817.9 million was slightly above Wall Street expectations but marked a notable decline from $979.6 million a year ago.
Rising mortgage rates and affordability constraints have led to weaker demand for new homes. Hovnanian’s consolidated contracts in the fourth quarter decreased by 10.8% to 1,209 homes compared with 1,355 homes in the same quarter last year.
Hovnanian is a cyclically sensitive builder. It carries more debt than many rivals and therefore tends to see larger swings in earnings during housing booms and busts.
In an uncertain economic environment, investors tend to punish companies when the outlook appears challenged, especially in a capital-intensive, interest-rate-sensitive sector like homebuilding.
Write to Evie Liu at evie.liu@barrons.com