KB Home Stock Slides After Earnings Miss. Sales Were 'Muted,' CEO Says. -- Barrons.com

By Shaina Mishkin

Shares of Los Angeles-based home builder KB Home were sliding in after-hours trading. The company reported earnings and revenue that missed consensus expectations amid a "muted" start to the spring selling season.

KB Home reported diluted first-quarter earnings of $1.49 a share on $1.39 billion in revenue, the home builder said after the market closed Monday. Consensus estimates compiled by FactSet called for $1.57 a share on about $1.5 billion in revenue. The company will discuss its results on a conference call at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

The stock was down 9.3% in after-hours trading after closing up 3.4%.

"Consumers are working through affordability concerns and uncertainties related to macroeconomic and geopolitical issues, which are causing them to move slowly in their homebuying decisions," KB Home CEO Jeffrey Mezger said in a statement. "Demand at the start of this spring's selling season was more muted than what we have seen historically, despite a healthy level of traffic in our communities."

The company in February "took steps to reposition our communities to offer the most compelling value, and buyers responded favorably to these adjustments," he added. "Although we missed our sales goals for the first quarter, we are encouraged by the significant improvement in weekly sales and normalizing absorption pace over the last five weeks."

The company lowered its full-year guidance to call for housing revenue in a range from $6.6 billion to $7 billion, down from prior guidance calling for a range from $7 billion to $7.5 billion. It also lowered its expectations for average selling price and narrowed its margin expectations.

The guidance reduction is "primarily to reflect the lower level of net orders we generated in the first quarter," Mezger said. KB Home reported 2,772 net orders, down about 17% from one year ago and below the 3,242 consensus expected.

KB Home isn't the only builder having a slow start to spring. Lennar, one of the nation's largest home builders, last week offered guidance for a narrower-than-expected home building margin as it expects to continue to offer incentives to drive sales volume amid affordability pressures.

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

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March 24, 2025 16:55 ET (20:55 GMT)

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