Lennar Stock Tumbles As Homebuilder Flags 'Far More Challenging' Housing Market Than Anticipated

Lennar Corp LEN shares are sinking in Wednesday’s after-hours session after the company reported worse-than-expected financial results for the fourth quarter. Here’s a look at the key metrics from the quarter.

• Q4 Revenue: $9.95 billion, versus estimates of $10.08 billion

• Q4 Adjusted EPS: $4.03, versus estimates of $4.16

Lennar said deliveries decreased 7% year-over-year to 22,206 homes. New orders in the period declined 3% to 16,895 homes, below the low end of the company’s previous guidance of 19,000 homes. The homebuilder had a backlog of 11,633 homes with an estimated value of $5.4 billion at quarter’s end.

Lennar reported homebuilding operating earnings of $1.5 billion, financial services operating earnings of $154 million and a multifamily operating loss of approximately $200,000. The company ended the quarter with homebuilding cash and cash equivalents of $4.7 billion, and total liquidity of approximately $7.6 billion.

“In the course of our fourth quarter, the housing market that appeared to be improving as the Fed cut short-term interest rates, proved to be far more challenging as mortgage rates rose almost 100 basis points through the quarter,” said Stuart Miller, executive chairman and co-CEO of Lennar.

“Even while demand remained strong, and the chronic supply shortage continued to drive the market, our results were driven by affordability limitations from higher interest rates.”

Lennar said it repurchased $521 million of its common stock during the quarter.

What’s Next: Lennar expects first-quarter deliveries of 17,000 to 17,500 homes. The company also guided for full-year 2025 deliveries of 86,000 to 88,000 homes. Lennar expects first-quarter gross margin to be between 19% and 19.25%, down from 22.1% in the fourth quarter.

“At this time, we will not guide to full-year gross margin until we have a better sense of market conditions as the year unfolds,” Miller said.

LEN Price Action: Lennar shares were down 7.49% after hours, trading at $135 at the time of publication Wednesday, per Benzinga Pro.

Read Next:

• Homebuilders 2025 Outlook: ‘More Cautious, Less Constructive,’ Analyst Says

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