LGI Homes reports Q4 EPS $1.45, consensus $1.67

Reports Q4 revenue $488.3M, consensus $530.66M. "We are pleased to announce our fourth quarter and full year financial results," said Eric Lipar, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. "Thanks to our employees’ dedicated execution in 2022, we delivered a number of notable successes along with record breaking profitability metrics for the full year. We closed 1,448 homes in the fourth quarter, resulting in full year closings of 6,621 homes, revenue of $2.3 billion and one of our most profitable years ever. Our full year gross margin was 28.1%, adjusted gross margin was 29.2%, pre-tax net income margin was 18.1% and net income margin was 14.2%. Each of these metrics was a new Company record. We continued to right-size our inventory, reducing our owned and controlled lots by 21.7% and ending the year with approximately 3,300 homes in vertical construction and completed inventory. Finally, we remained focused on our balance sheet, ending the year with a net-debt-to-capitalization ratio of 39.8%, representing a 250 basis point decrease from the third quarter of 2022 and our lowest ratio of the year." We enter 2023 with tempered optimism. Recent lead and sales trends have been very positive. In the first eight weeks of the year, our retail net orders pace has been 7.2 homes per active community, compared to 2.9 in the fourth quarter of 2022. However, mortgage rates are again rising and the Fed’s interest rate path is still uncertain. Therefore, our focus remains on what we control – driving leads through marketing, controlling input costs, starting affordable, move-in ready homes at a disciplined pace and maintaining our strong balance sheet while investing to support our future growth."