Meritage Homes (MTH) Q3 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q3 home-closing revenue fell 17% YoY to $1.162B; net earnings declined 32% to $67.8M and diluted EPS was $1.04, as lower closings, prices and margins weighed on results.

• Rising rates, affordability pressure and macroeconomic uncertainty weakened demand; priorities included margin preservation, liquidity and disciplined investment.

Financial highlights

• Q3 closings fell 14% to 3,187 and closing ASP declined 4% to $365K; home-closing revenue fell 17% YoY.

• Home-closing gross margin was 17.4% versus 19.1%; adjusted margin was 17.9% versus 20.1%, excluding impairments and terminated land-deal charges or credits.

• Net earnings were $67.8M versus $99.3M; diluted EPS was $1.04 versus $1.39, and adjusted diluted EPS was $1.11 versus $1.55.

• 9M revenue was $3.658B, down 16%; net earnings were $213.7M, down 42%, and diluted EPS was $3.22, down 37%.

• Q3 SG&A was $128M, down 16% YoY, but rose to 11.0% of home-closing revenue from 10.8%.

Outlook and guidance

• No Q4 or preliminary FY2026 guidance was issued amid volatile conditions and limited visibility; FY2027 guidance is expected with Q4 results.

• FY2026 community-count growth expectation remained 5%-10% YoY; full-year land acquisition and development spend was expected below $1.5B.

• Management expects limited gross-margin recovery over the next several quarters; the normalized-market long-term target remains 22.5%-23.5%.

• Spec supply was 5 months per community, within the 4-6 month target; starts were aligned with sales pace.