How I Made $5000 in the Stock Market

Lennar Stock Falls on Earnings Miss. Builders Alone Can’t Fix Housing Market, CEO Says

Dec 16, 2025 04:00:00 -0500 by Shaina Mishkin | #Real Estate #Earnings Report

(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)

Key Points

High housing costs are still a problem for consumers. Builders can’t fix it on their own, Stuart Miller, co-CEO of large home builder Lennar, said during a Wednesday conference call.

The builder’s stock fell after it reported fourth-quarter earnings and first-quarter guidance that missed expectations after the market closed Tuesday.

Lennar earned $1.93 a share, or $2.03 a share, excluding mark-to-market gains on technology investments, and a $156 million one-time loss on an exchange offer linked to its land development spinoff, on $9.4 billion in revenue in its fourth quarter. Analysts were looking for $2.21 a share on roughly $9 billion in earnings, according to FactSet.

For the full year, Lennar reported earnings of $7.98 a share, or $8.06 excluding adjustments, on $34.2 billion in revenue.

The company expects new orders in a range from 18,000 to 19,000 in its first quarter and 17,000 to 18,000 deliveries, both lower than the 19,911 new orders and 20,089 deliveries analysts expected. Its anticipated margin on home sales, between 15% and 16%, was also lower than the 16.9% analysts expected.

The company’s stock was down 5.2% in midday trading. The iShares U.S. Home Construction exchange-traded fund, which tracks companies related to the industry including Lennar, was 1.4% lower, while the S&P 500 was down about 0.8%

Mortgage rates came down in the fourth quarter, Miller noted—but so did consumer confidence against a backdrop of ongoing inflation pressure and concerns about job security in the age of artificial intelligence.

“The current housing market is entrenched in an affordability crisis leaving many average American families feeling excluded from the traditional promise of upward mobility and homeownership,” Miller said on the Wednesday call.

It has been a difficult time for companies in the housing space as buying costs have remained high and home sales slow. “Even as interest rates moved slightly lower in our fourth quarter, the overall market remained challenged,” Miller said in a statement Tuesday.

The company continued to offer incentives and adjust prices while focusing on volume, Miller said. Builders who offer incentives do so at the expense of their margin. Lennar’s margin on home sales was 17% in the fourth quarter, below the 17.5% analysts expected.

Housing has captured the attention of policymakers on both sides of the aisle, Miller noted—though a practical “capitalist framework” for easing home affordability woes has yet to materialize, he said.

“Short supply can’t be fixed by simply adding supply,” Miller said. Driving homebuying costs lower by boosting inventory or artificially lowering home prices “could negatively affect the 85 million Americans who already own homes by diminishing their property values which in turn could further weaken overall consumer confidence.”

Miller expects the Trump administration to step in. “The federal government has intensified its focus on the national housing crisis with a strong likelihood of taking decisive action to enhance affordability,” he said. “Although the specifics of potential programs remain to be seen, it is clear that significant attention is being paid to developing impactful initiatives while thoughtfully considering possible unintended negative consequences.”

Meanwhile, the company will continue to offer deals and discounts to spur sales as needed. “Our strategy remains consistent and clear: maintain volume, adapt to evolving conditions, reduce costs, and support housing affordability,” Miller said in the Tuesday release.

Write to Shaina Mishkin at shaina.mishkin@dowjones.com