The real estate market these days has been nothing, if not volatile. That goes for those who deal in it as well, as Re/Max Holdings (NYSE:RMAX) found out. Its stock closed down 13.5% in Friday’s trading, and the reasons for that are roughly what you’d expect. Re/Max’s fourth quarter results looked like a soft housing market already in progress, as it posted earnings of $0.41 per share, which faltered against expectations calling for $0.45 per share.
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Additionally, revenue figures did no favors, posting sales of $81.3 million against expectations of $83.15 million. Plus, future projections also proved soft. Re/Max looked for Q1 2023 revenue to come in between $82 million and $87 million. Analyst expectations wanted $87.36 million. Even the best estimates for full-year 2023 revenue fell short; consensus wanted $357.17 million. Management’s best guess stops at $335 million.
Re/Max does have some hope for the future. Indeed, president Christopher Alexander believes that the Canadian housing market could “pop open again” this year as sidelined buyers come back into the fray and pick up houses again. Meanwhile, new listings in the U.S. market won’t hurt matters either. Still, with overall economic uncertainty plaguing the market for big-ticket items and the housing market just off a whirlwind expansion, some decline is largely inevitable.
Insiders at Re/Max are feeling pretty optimistic, based on insider trading figures. Currently, insider confidence levels at Re/Max are considered Positive, as they bought $2.6 million worth of shares in the last three months.
