Category Archives: Consumer Discretionary
CEA Industries (VAPE) Acquires Fat Panda
Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to sit in on a presentation by and meet the management of CEA Industries, which is based in Louisville CO. CEA became a public company in 2011. Back then, it was exclusively a … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 24Q4 Update
Toll Brothers’ 24Q4 EPS was $4.63, up 12.6% from 23Q4’s $4.11. My estimate was $4.24. Consensus was $4.34. Deliveries of 3,431 units increased 24.5% YOY. The average sales price per unit fell 11.3% to $950,000, mostly on sales mix. Adjusted … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 24Q3 Update
Toll Brothers’ 24Q3 EPS was $3.60, down 3.5% from 23Q3’s $3.73. My estimate was $3.18. Consensus was $3.31. Deliveries of 2,814 units increased 11.5% YOY. The average sales price per unit fell 8.6% to $968,200. Adjusted gross margin of 28.8% … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 24Q2 Update
Toll Brothers’ 24Q2 EPS was $4.55, up 60% from 23Q2’s $2.85. Excluding a $1.17 profit from a land sale, 24Q2 EPS was $3.38. My estimate was $3.06. Deliveries of 2,641 units increased 6% YOY. The average sales price per unit … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 23Q4 Update Report
Toll Brothers’ 23Q4 EPS was $4.11, down 27% from 22Q4’s $5.63, but above my estimate of $3.51 (and the consensus of $3.72). 22Q4 included a $103 million ($0.91 per share) benefit from a litigation settlement. Revenues fell 18.6% to $3.02 … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 23Q2 Update
Toll Brothers’ 23Q2 EPS was $2.85, up 54% from 22Q2’s $1.85 and above my estimate of $1.87. Revenues increased 10.1% to $2.51 billion and exceeded my estimate of $2.17 billion. Deliveries of 2,492 units increased 3.5% exceeding management’s guidance. The … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 23Q1 Update
Toll Brothers’ 23Q1 EPS was $1.70, up 38% from 22Q1’s $1.24 and above my estimate of $1.37. Revenues decreased 0.6% to $1.78 billion, below my $1.80 billion. Deliveries of 1,826 units fell 5.3%, but topped my estimate. The average sales … Continue reading
Housing Market Update – March 2023
Housing market data from the U.S. Commerce Dept. and others show sales and production leveled off and even recovered a bit in the final months of 2022 and first two months of 2023. The seasonally-adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of single-family … Continue reading
2022 Large Cap Performance Analysis
Large cap stocks, as measured by the Lark Research Large Cap Index (the “Index”)[1] which mirrors the S&P 500, posted a decline of 19.5% in 2022. As in previous years, most of the performance was driven by a handful of … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 22Q4 Update
Toll Brothers reported fiscal 22Q4 results that were much stronger than I anticipated. 22Q4 diluted earnings per share were $5.63 up 86% from $3.02 in 21Q4 and better than my estimate of $3.93. Excluding a $140 million (estimated $0.94 per … Continue reading
November Housing Market Update
Housing market data from the U.S. Commerce Dept. and others show sales and production falling at a rapid rate. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of single-family housing starts and building permits has fallen for eight consecutive months by about … Continue reading
Bluegreen Vacations Holding Corp. (BVH) 22Q3 Update
22Q3 net income attributable to shareholders was $23.0 million or $1.19 per diluted share, compared with 21Q3’s $23.1 million or $01.06 per share. Revenues grew 17.0% to $250.8 million, but operating expenses rose 19.8% to $152.9 million. The increase in … Continue reading
September Housing Market Update
The average rate on the 30-year mortgage has risen above 6.00% in response to the latest hike in the Fed Funds target rate. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey pegged the average rate at 6.29% this week. The CME’s Fed … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 22Q3 Update
Toll Brothers’ 22Q3 EPS was $2.35, up 25.7% from 21Q3’s $1.87 and above my estimate of $2.22. Revenues increased 10.6% to $2.49 billion, slightly below my projections. Deliveries of 2,414 units fell 7.1%, more than expected, but the average sales … Continue reading
22Q2 Housing Market Update
Despite an accelerating slide in housing sales and production following this year’s rise in mortgage rates, my homebuilder stock price index has performed in line with its benchmarks since April. At current prices, homebuilding stocks trade at less than four … Continue reading
Thoughts on the Outlook for Homebuilding Stocks
Homebuilding stocks have had a rough 2022. Year-to-date (through 4/12), my equal-weighted index of 11 publicly-traded U.S. homebuilders has fallen 34.8%. That compares with declines of 7.7% in the S&P 500 and 11.5% in the Russell 2000. Following a three-fold … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 22Q1 Update
Since my last report on December 9, 2021, Toll’s stock has fallen 26.3%, much more than the S&P Mid-Cap 400’s 2.6% decline. As I noted back then, shares of Toll and other homebuilders were ripe for a correction following their … Continue reading
Toll Brothers (TOL) 21Q4 Update
Toll Brothers reported stronger-than anticipated fiscal 21Q4 results that once again exceeded my and the consensus estimates. Its diluted earnings per share were $3.02, up 95% from $1.55 in 20Q4. My estimate was $2.51 and the consensus estimate was $2.50.
Toll Brothers 21Q3 Update
Toll Brothers reported stronger-than anticipated fiscal 21Q3 results that once again exceeded my estimates. Its diluted earnings per share were $1.86, up 71% from $0.59 in 20Q2. My estimate was $1.48 and the consensus estimate was $1.53.
2021 Market Outlook – Part 2: S&P 500 Sector Analysis
2020 was of course dominated by the impact of the pandemic on the economy and specifically on the revenues and profits of each of the S&P 500 constituents. There was a sharp stock market sell-off in March-April, followed by a … Continue reading
An Uncertain Outlook for Housing
2020 was a surprisingly solid year for housing in light of the pandemic and the havoc that it wreaked in other parts of the economy. December data will not be reported until later this month. I project that single-family housing … Continue reading
Housing Market Update
Despite continuing elevated unemployment and dampened consumer confidence, the housing market has been surprisingly strong in the months following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the U.S. Commerce Dept., single-family housing starts for August were estimated at the … Continue reading
After the Quick Rebound, Investors Should Approach Homebuilding Stocks with Caution
Homebuilding stocks have been on a wild ride in 2020. They boomed from the start of the year, rising 19.1% (according to my index of 11 publicly-traded builders) to February 21, handily beating the 3.0% gain on the S&P 500 … Continue reading
A Strong Start for Housing
2019 was a solid year for U.S. housing. While still subject to modest revisions, government figures show that new residential sales increased 10.4% from an estimated 617,000 units in 2018 to 681,000 units in 2019. Single-family housing starts advanced 1.4% … Continue reading
Homebuilder Stocks Fall as Optimism About Global Economic Growth Rises
Homebuilding stocks have been the best performing of the 150-odd sectors in the Dow Jones U.S. Total Market Index, up 44.4% over the past 12 months as of November 8. Last year, they declined sharply in the face of Federal … Continue reading
A Solid First Half for Housing and the Builders
A typical analysis from policy makers, like the Federal Reserve, points out that activity in the housing market has declined so far this year; but that assertion focuses primarily on housing starts. A more complete picture from the national data … Continue reading
Housing Market Update – February 2019
The outlook for housing (or more precisely, sentiment about the outlook for housing) has improved in recent weeks, primarily because of the decline in mortgage rates. The average rate on the 30-year mortgage has fallen by 57 basis points (bp) … Continue reading
Acme United Battles the Headwinds
2018 was a rough year for investors in Acme United Corporation’s (ACU) stock, including CEO Walter Johnsen who owns 15% of the outstanding shares. ACU’s 2018 total return was -38%, worse than the Zack’s Micro Cap Index’s 17% decline. The … Continue reading
A Process of Adjustment for the Homebuilders
2018 has been rough for homebuilding stocks. The Lark Research Homebuilder Stock Index, which is an equal-weighted measure of the price performance of ten publicly-traded homebuilders, was down 19.9% year-to-date through August 3rd, far worse than the gains of 6.2% … Continue reading