LENNAR CORP /NEW/ Q2 FY26 Results

Our second quarter of fiscal year 2026 was defined by the same stubborn headwinds that have challenged the housing market for the past several years – persistently elevated mortgage rates, constrained affordability, and cautious consumer sentiment, exacerbated by geopolitical uncertainty creating a resurgent inflation reading of 4.2% driven by higher energy prices. Against that backdrop, our team delivered results that demonstrate the strength and resilience of our operating platform. We delivered 20,519 homes, within our guidance of 20,000 to 21,000, generated 21,749 new orders and produced earnings per share of $1.31 excluding mark-to-market losses. Our average sales price was $371,000, reflecting approximately 12.9% in incentives, along with base price adjustments necessary to sustain volume in a market where affordability remains the defining constant. Our gross margin improved sequentially to 15.6% while our net margin increased to 6.4%. Our continued focus on operational execution is reflected across numerous key metrics. Our construction costs improved another 2% sequentially and 13% over the last several years. Our cycle time reached a new record low of 121 days, down from 122 days last quarter and 132 days a year ago. We reduced our inventory to 2.1 homes per community from 3 homes per community last quarter, and our inventory turn stands at 2.5 times. Less than 5% of our land is on our balance sheet and our total owned homebuilding inventory has declined from $11.4 billion a year ago to $10.9 billion today. Finally, we ended the quarter with $1.8 billion in cash as we purchased 5 million shares of stock for $447 million. Looking ahead to the third quarter of 2026, we expect to deliver approximately 20,500 to 21,500 homes with gross margin improving to approximately 16% as volume increases, incentive levels continue to moderate, and our cost discipline continues to gain traction. We expect our average sales price to be in the range of approximately $375,000 to $380,000 and our SG&A to improve toward 8.8% to 9.0%. Given current pressure on interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty we are moderating our target full-year 2026 deliveries to approximately 82,000 to 83,000 homes. In order to help clearly communicate our operating strategy and operating model, we are pleased to announce the publication of a new Investor Deck on the Lennar Investor Relations website tomorrow morning. This deck has been designed to give investors a current view of Lennar's transformation, our asset-light operating model, our technology platform, and our path to margin recovery and long-term value creation. We believe it provides important context for understanding not just where we are today, but where we are going, and why we remain so confident about Lennar's long-term position. Our strategy consistently has been to execute around the affordability challenge rather than wait it out. We have prioritized volume to create durable scale advantages, to deliver that volume at lower prices, and ultimately improve margins. Our costs are down materially over the past two years, volume is holding, our asset-light balance sheet is functioning extremely well and improving, and our technology initiatives are defining a new Lennar. Additionally, the gap between our current incentive levels of 12.9% and normalized levels of 4% to 6% is narrowing for the first time in three years as the mismatch between higher home prices with higher interest rates and household income is narrowing, as wages drift higher and employment remains strong. The fundamental shortage of housing in America has not been solved. Demand is real, deferred, and building. Lennar is positioned better than at any point in recent history to capture demand as conditions normalize. We remain deeply committed to building the homes America needs, at prices families can afford, and to generating the returns our shareholders deserve.