Green Brick Partners Inc (GRBK) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Green Brick Partners, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions)

午安.感謝您的耐心等待，歡迎參加 Green Brick Partners, Inc. 2023 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Rick Costello, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議交給財務長 Rick Costello。請繼續。

Good afternoon, and welcome to Green Brick Partners Earnings Call for the Fourth Quarter ended December 31, 2023. Following today’s remarks, we will hold a Q&A session. As a reminder, this call is being recorded and will be available for playback. In addition, a presentation will accompany today’s webcast and is also available on the company’s website at investors.greenbrickpartners.com. On the call today is Jim Brickman, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer; Jed Dolson, President and Chief Operating Officer; and myself, Rick Costello, Chief Financial Officer.

下午好，歡迎參加 Green Brick Partners 截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的第四季財報電話會議。今天的發言之後，我們將舉行問答環節。謹此提醒，此通話正在錄音中並且可以回放。此外，現今的網路廣播還將附帶演示文稿，也可在公司網站 Investors.greenbrickpartners.com 上觀看。今天參加電話會議的是共同創辦人兼執行長吉姆‧布里克曼 (Jim Brickman)；傑德‧多爾森 (Jed Dolson)，總裁兼營運長；還有我本人，財務長里克‧科斯特洛 (Rick Costello)。

Some of the information discussed on this call is forward-looking, including the company's financial and operational expectations for 2024 and beyond. In yesterday's press release and SEC filings, the company detailed material risks that may cause our future results to differ from its expectations. The company’s statements are as of today, March 1, 2024, and the company has no obligation to update any forward-looking statement it may make. The comments also include non-GAAP financial metrics. The reconciliation of these metrics and the other information required by Regulation G can be found in the earnings release that the company issued yesterday, and in the presentation available on the company's website.

本次電話會議討論的一些資訊具有前瞻性，包括公司對 2024 年及以後的財務和營運預期。在昨天的新聞稿和向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中，該公司詳細說明了可能導致我們未來業績與其預期不同的重大風險。該公司的聲明截至今天，即 2024 年 3 月 1 日，該公司沒有義務更新其可能做出的任何前瞻性聲明。這些評論也包括非公認會計準則財務指標。這些指標和 G 條例要求的其他資訊的核對可以在該公司昨天發布的收益報告以及該公司網站上的簡報中找到。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Jim. Jim?

這樣，我就把電話轉給吉姆。吉姆？

Thank you, Rick. 2023 was an absolutely stellar year for Green Brick. We closed out 2023 with record results that reflect our strategic advantages, our disciplined approach and the successful execution of our strategy by our talented and dedicated team members.

謝謝你，瑞克。 2023 年對 Green Brick 來說絕對是輝煌的一年。我們以創紀錄的業績結束了 2023 年，這反映了我們的策略優勢、我們嚴格的方法以及我們才華橫溢、敬業的團隊成員成功執行我們的策略。

I want to express my deepest gratitude to every employee who embraced our values set forth in our acronym home, which represents honesty, objectivity, maturity and efficiency. Our year was highlighted by the following record performance that we set in 2023 for the full year, record home closings revenue for the year of $1.77 billion, record homebuilding gross margin of 30.9% and record diluted EPS of $6.14. We also set a record for the number of homes closed for any fourth quarter at 825 units.

我想向每一位接受我們縮寫之家所闡述的價值觀的員工表示最深切的感謝，這些價值觀代表著誠實、客觀、成熟和高效。我們在 2023 年創下了全年創紀錄的業績，創下了 17.7 億美元的年度房屋成交收入紀錄，創下了 30.9% 的住宅建築毛利率紀錄，以及創紀錄的 6.14 美元攤薄每股收益。我們也創下了第四季關閉房屋數量的紀錄，達到 825 套。

Significantly, our net new orders for the full year increased over 70% year over year to a record 3,356 homes sold. As you can see in slides 4, 5, and 6, our net new order growth rate ranked the highest among our public builder home madling peers.

值得注意的是，我們全年的淨新訂單年增超過 70%，售出房屋達到創紀錄的 3,356 套。正如您在投影片 4、5 和 6 中所看到的，我們的淨新訂單成長率在公共建築商住宅同行中排名最高。

We also again achieved the highest gross margin of the public homebuilders in the fourth quarter and experienced the largest homebuilding revenue growth for the full year. In 2023, we grew our book value by 26% to $27.84 per share. Additionally, we achieved a return on average equity of 24.9% despite having low leverage with the net debt to total capital of only 11.4%.

我們在第四季度再次實現了公共住宅建築商中最高的毛利率，並實現了全年最大的住宅建築收入成長。2023 年，我們的帳面價值成長了 26%，達到每股 27.84 美元。此外，儘管槓桿率較低，淨負債佔總資本僅 11.4%，但我們的平均股本報酬率為 24.9%。

Looking ahead, we believe that our ability to source and entitle land, rigorous land underwriting and continued operational improvements at our division management and land development teams will continue to provide superior risk-adjusted returns. Consumer confidence remained resilient in 2023 despite higher mortgage rates. We continue to see healthy demand for new homes in our markets driven by demographic tailwinds and the lack of supply of existing homes entering the marketplace.

展望未來，我們相信，我們的土地採購和授權能力、嚴格的土地承保以及部門管理和土地開發團隊的持續營運改進將繼續提供卓越的風險調整回報。儘管抵押貸款利率較高，但 2023 年消費者信心仍保持彈性。我們繼續看到，在人口順風和進入市場的現有房屋供應不足的推動下，市場對新房的健康需求。

More importantly, DFW our largest market, representing 71% of homebuilding revenues has continued to be among the nation's leaders in building starts and economic growth. According to U-Haul, based on the rental of One U-Haul equipment. Texas netted the largest number of movers in 2023, making the third consecutive year it has finished at the top, including Dallas and Austin, ranking the top 10 cities with new residents.

更重要的是，DFW 作為我們最大的市場，佔住宅建築收入的 71%，在建築開工率和經濟成長方面仍然處於全國領先地位。據U-Haul稱，基於一台U-Haul設備的租賃。德州 2023 年的搬家人數最多，連續第三年名列前茅，其中包括達拉斯和奧斯汀，躋身新居民前 10 名城市之列。

As shown on slide 7, DFW was number one over the nation's 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in terms of job growth as of November 2023, with almost 140,000 new non-farm payroll employment added in a trailing 12-month period. DFW had a 3.3% job gains rate that was almost double the 1.8% national increase, being the third largest homebuilder in one of the biggest homebuilding markets, Green Brick continued to benefit from favorable demographic trends and job growth in the region.

如投影片7 所示，截至2023 年11 月，就就業成長而言，DFW 在全國12 個最大的大都會統計區中排名第一，在過去12 個月內新增了近140,000 個非農業就業崗位。DFW 的就業成長率為 3.3%，幾乎是全國成長率 1.8% 的兩倍，作為最大住宅建築市場之一的第三大住宅建築商，Green Brick 繼續受益於該地區有利的人口趨勢和就業成長。

We also believe there's a large pool of talent national demand with 3 million additional millennials and Gen Z members entering the homebuilding market over the next decade, as reflected on slide 10. We believe that bodes well for DFW, Austin, and the Atlanta metro areas, all of which have a younger population compared to US average.

我們也相信，如幻燈片 10 所示，未來十年，全國將有大量人才需求，將有 300 萬千禧世代和 Z 世代成員進入住宅建築市場。我們認為，這對 DFW、奧斯汀和亞特蘭大都市區來說是個好兆頭，這些地區的人口都比美國平均更年輕。

According to US Census, 45% of the US population is under the age of 35. The percentages are 49% for DFW, 48% for Austin and 47% for Atlanta. Sales of existing homes in 2023 dropped 19% year over year and fell to the lowest level in almost 30 years, highlighting the persistent golden hand cuff effect on existing homeowners were locked into low fixed rate mortgages they are unwilling to relinquish, as shown on slide 8.

根據美國人口普查，45%的美國人口年齡在35歲以下。DFW 的比例為 49%，奧斯汀為 48%，亞特蘭大為 47%。2023 年成屋銷售年減19%，跌至近30 年來的最低水平，凸顯出持續的金手銬效應對現有房主的影響，他們被鎖定在低固定利率抵押貸款中，不願放棄，如幻燈片所示8.

The impact is more prominent in desirable infill and infill adjacent submarkets where we have a strong presence, broadening our industry relieving results. Over 80% of our revenues in 2023 were generated in these infill submarkets. We believe that Green Brick is uniquely equipped to take advantage the current market conditions with our strategic advantages and land position and development entitlement expertise.

這種影響在我們擁有強大影響力的理想填充和填充相鄰子市場中更為突出，從而擴大了我們的行業緩解結果。2023 年，我們超過 80% 的收入來自這些填充子市場。我們相信，憑藉我們的戰略優勢、土地地位和開發權利專業知識，Green Brick 擁有獨特的能力來利用當前的市場條件。

We consider ourselves to have one of the best land positions through years of consistent strategic land acquisitions in infill and infill adjacent submarkets. Our decentralized approach in sourcing land acquisition and land development has allowed us to unlock more high-quality land opportunities and amplify the strength of each builder. Each of our builders is unique, has decades of market advantages from deep and extensive connections in their local markets that positions them to source strong land and lot positions.

透過多年來在填充區和填充區鄰近子市場的持續策略性土地收購，我們認為自己擁有最好的土地地位之一。我們在土地收購和土地開發方面的分散方式使我們能夠釋放更多優質土地機會並增強每個建設者的實力。我們的每一位建築商都是獨一無二的，擁有數十年的市場優勢，這些優勢來自於當地市場深厚而廣泛的聯繫，這使他們能夠獲得強大的土地和地塊位置。

Our builders’ extensive local knowledge also enables them to address more complicated entitlement, regulatory and development processes in infill locations. We believe that our ability to self-develop in markets where land developers are scarce, gives us an upper hand in generating the highest homebuilding gross margins in the industry as well as having better control of a lot delivery scheduling and cost.

我們的建築商豐富的當地知識也使他們能夠解決填充地點更複雜的權利、監管和開發流程。我們相信，我們在土地開發商稀缺的市場中進行自我開發的能力，使我們能夠在行業中創造最高的住宅建築毛利率，並更好地控制批量交付計劃和成本。

As a result, approximately 83% of our total lots were owned on our balance sheet at the end of 2023. We believe we can continue to generate better returns than most peers who adopt land-light models that carry a hit cost, a high capital paid to the providers of off-balance sheet financing.

因此，截至 2023 年底，我們的資產負債表上約有 83% 的土地擁有。我們相信，與大多數採用輕土地模式的同行相比，我們可以繼續產生更好的回報，這種模式的成本很高，需要向表外融資提供者支付高額資本。

On February 1, 2024, as previously announced, we sold our 49.9% interest in Challenger Homes back to its founder. We intend to use the proceeds of that approximately $64 million for investment in our other builders or other potential opportunities in larger markets where Green Brick is staying control owner. Our current focus is on the growth and expansion of our Trophy Signature Homes brand into the Austin market and other potential new markets.

如同先前所宣布的，2024 年 2 月 1 日，我們將 Challenger Homes 49.9% 的股權出售給其創辦人。我們打算將這約 6,400 萬美元的收益用於投資我們的其他建築商或 Green Brick 保持控股權的更大市場中的其他潛在機會。我們目前的重點是 Trophy Signature Homes 品牌在奧斯汀市場和其他潛在新市場的成長和擴張。

Our goal is to invest in large markets with strong economic and demographic fundamentals where we can achieve scale and similar operational metrics as we do in our current markets. With this in mind, we are excited to announce that we just closed our first land transaction in Huffman, Texas, 25 miles northeast of Downtown Houston.

我們的目標是投資具有強大經濟和人口基礎的大型市場，在這些市場中我們可以實現與當前市場相同的規模和類似的營運指標。考慮到這一點，我們很高興地宣布，我們剛剛完成了位於德克薩斯州霍夫曼（休斯頓市中心東北 25 英里）的第一筆土地交易。

The neighborhood will be co-developed with one of the largest public builders in the country, the 920-home community has excellent access to the newly constructed Grand Parkway, which provides proximity to major employment centers in the oil and gas industries, such as the Exxon corporate headquarters. Murphy Signature Homes will have 460 home sites with lot with ranging from 40 to 50 feet.

該社區將與該國最大的公共建築商之一共同開發，擁有 920 戶住宅的社區可以輕鬆前往新建的 Grand Parkway，該大道靠近石油和天然氣行業的主要就業中心，例如埃克森公司總部。Murphy Signature Homes 將擁有 460 個住宅用地，地塊面積從 40 英尺到 50 英尺不等。

Construction of the homes is currently stated to start in the second quarter of 2025, and we anticipate opening for sales in the late summer of 2025. This is our first community in the Houston market and is in a location into which we have been interested in expanding for several years.

目前預計房屋建設將於 2025 年第二季開始，我們預計將於 2025 年夏末開盤銷售。這是我們在休士頓市場的第一個社區，多年來我們一直有興趣擴展到這個地方。

Houston, the fourth most popular city in the US, was the largest homebuilding market with the most new home construction in 2023. Similar to DFW, Houston has a young and growing population and a strong market that we believe will create demand tailwinds for entry-level and move-up homes. Trophy, is in an excellent position to capture this demand with their value-rich products.

休士頓是美國第四大最受歡迎的城市，也是 2023 年新建住宅開工最多的最大住宅市場。與 DFW 類似，休士頓擁有年輕且不斷增長的人口以及強大的市場，我們相信這將為入門級和升級住宅創造需求順風。Trophy 憑藉其價值豐富的產品佔據了滿足這一需求的絕佳位置。

With that, I'll now turn it over to Rick to provide more detail regarding our financial results. Rick?

現在，我將把它交給 Rick，以提供有關我們財務表現的更多詳細資訊。瑞克？

Thank you, Jim. Please turn to slides 11 and 12 of the presentation. Home closings revenue for the fourth quarter grew 4.6% year over year to $448 million, bringing full year home closing revenues to a record high of $1.77 billion. This represents a growth rate of 4.2%, the highest among public homebuilders.

謝謝你，吉姆。請參閱簡報的投影片 11 和 12。第四季房屋成交收入年增 4.6% 至 4.48 億美元，使全年房屋成交收入達到 17.7 億美元的歷史新高。成長率為 4.2%，是公共住宅建築商中最高的。

Our public peers experienced an average home closings revenue decline of 5.6%. Revenue growth was driven by a 13% year-over-year increase in homes delivered to 825 units, partially offset by an 8% decline in ASP to $544,000. The anticipated decline in ASP was predominantly driven by a year-over-year increase in the percentage of Trophy Signature Homes closed homes in more perimeter locations as well as by a change in product mix within Trophy. Trophy represented 45% of the total number of closings in 2023 versus 38% in 2022.

我們的上市同業平均房屋成交收入下降了 5.6%。收入成長的推動因素是交付的房屋數量年增 13%，達到 825 套，但部分被平均售價下降 8% 至 544,000 美元所抵消。平均售價的預期下降主要是由於 Trophy Signature Homes 在更多周邊地區關閉住宅的比例同比增加，以及 Trophy 內部產品組合的變化。Trophy 佔 2023 年成交總數的 45%，而 2022 年為 38%。

Our homebuilding gross margin continued to lead our public homebuilding peers, as shown on slide 4. During the fourth quarter, gross margin remained elevated at 31.4%, up 520 basis points year over year. The sequential decline of 190 basis points from Q3 was due to higher incentives on spec homes when mortgage rates peaked in October. Full year gross margin was 30.9%, the highest full year margin in company history and the highest among our public homebuilding peers.

如幻燈片 4 所示，我們的住宅建築毛利率繼續領先公共住宅建築同行。第四季毛利率維持在31.4%的高位，較去年同期成長520個基點。較第三季連續下降 190 個基點是由於 10 月抵押貸款利率達到頂峰時對規格房的激勵措施增加。全年毛利率為30.9%，是公司史上最高的全年毛利率，也是我們上市住宅建築同業中最高的。

Net income attributable to Green Brick and diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter increased 31.5% and 33.9%, respectively to $73 million and $1.58 per share. For the full year, diluted EPS increased 2% year over year to $6.14 per share. During the fourth quarter, net new home orders increased 61% year over year to 679 homes sold. For the full year 2023 net new orders increased 70.1% year over year to 3,356, the highest growth rate in the homebuilding industry and the highest number of annual new orders in company history.

第四季Green Brick應佔淨利和稀釋後每股收益分別成長31.5%和33.9%，至每股7,300萬美元和1.58美元。全年稀釋後每股收益年增 2% 至每股 6.14 美元。第四季度，淨新房訂單年增 61%，售出 679 套房屋。2023 年全年淨新訂單年增 70.1% 至 3,356 份，為住宅建築業最高成長率，也是公司歷史上年度新訂單數量最高的。

Jed will provide more detail on the sales environment shortly, but limited competition from both existing homes and new construction in our infill and infill adjacent locations have allowed us to meet the unmet demand in the Sonata locations. Active selling communities at the end of Q4 increased 14% year over year to 91. Our quarterly absorption rate increased 38% to 7.6 homes for average active selling community. For the full year, our quarterly absorption rate was 9.9 homes per average active selling community.

傑德將很快提供有關銷售環境的更多詳細信息，但來自現有房屋和我們填充和填充相鄰位置的新建建築的有限競爭使我們能夠滿足索納塔位置未滿足的需求。第四季末活躍銷售社群年增 14%，達到 91 個。我們的季度吸收率增加了 38%，平均活躍銷售社群數量達到 7.6 套。全年來看，我們的季度吸收率為每個活躍銷售社區平均 9.9 套房屋。

Our cancellation rate for the fourth quarter remained low at 7.2%, the lowest among public homebuilding peers, as shown on slide 13. Our backlog value at the end of the fourth quarter increased 50% year over year to $555 million, backlog ASP slightly increased 4.9% to $721,000. Trophy is one as a spec homebuilder with high inventory churn rates and now represents a low percentage of overall backlog value at approximately 10%. Back units under construction as a percentage of total units under construction sequentially to 70% at the end of the fourth quarter due to the higher number of specs at Trophy, which reflects our intentional strategy to provide homes nearing completion to qualified buyers ready to close.

我們第四季的取消率仍然很低，為 7.2%，是公共住宅建築同業中最低的，如投影片 13 所示。在第四季末，我們的積壓訂單價值年增 50%，達到 5.55 億美元，積壓訂單平均售價小幅成長 4.9%，達到 721,000 美元。Trophy 是一家庫存流失率較高的規格住宅建築商，目前在總體積壓訂單價值中所佔比例較低，約 10%。由於 Trophy 的規格數量較多，在第四季度末將在建單位佔在建單位總數的比例提高到 70%，這反映了我們為準備成交的合格買家提供接近完工的房屋的有意戰略。

As shown graphically on slide 13, to satisfy the appetite for homes in our target markets, we ramped up starts further to 948 units during the fourth quarter over triple the starts in 4Q '22 and up 8% sequentially. For the full year, we started 34% more homes year over year for a total of 3,327 starts.

如投影片 13 所示，為了滿足目標市場對房屋的需求，我們在第四季將開工量進一步增加到 948 套，是 22 年第四季開工量的三倍以上，季增 8%。全年開工量年增 34%，開工量總計 3,327 套。

Our home starts for the last nine months have now averaged almost 900 homes per quarter. Our industry-leading results would not have been possible without our financial discipline and investment-grade balance sheet. We believe that our strong balance sheet demonstrates our ability to manage capital effectively, operate and execute our strategies efficiently withstand challenges and capitalize on opportunities for growth. At the end of the year, our net debt to total capital ratio was 11.4%, and our debt-to-capital ratio was only 21.1%, one of the lowest among our public homebuilding peers, as shown on slide 6.

過去 9 個月，我們的房屋開工量現在平均每季近 900 套。如果沒有我們的財務紀律和投資等級資產負債表，我們不可能取得業界領先的績效。我們相信，我們強勁的資產負債表顯示我們有能力有效管理資本、營運和執行我們的策略，有效應對挑戰並利用成長機會。截至年底，我們的淨負債與總資本比率為 11.4%，而債務與資本比率僅為 21.1%，是公共住宅建築同業中最低的之一，如投影片 6 所示。

100% of our debt outstanding at year-end is fixed rate and with a weighted average interest rate of 3.3%. Our low leverage and cost of debt have enabled us to retain more profits to fund our growth. Additionally, we have $180 million of cash on hand at the end of the year, ready to deploy for strategic opportunities that we believe will bring strong returns for our shareholders.

年末未償債務100%為固定利率，加權平均利率為3.3%。我們的低槓桿率和債務成本使我們能夠保留更多利潤來為我們的成長提供資金。此外，年底我們手頭上還有 1.8 億美元現金，準備好部署戰略機會，我們相信這些機會將為我們的股東帶來豐厚的回報。

With that, I'll now turn it over to Jed. Jed?

有了這個，我現在將把它交給傑德。傑德？

Thank you, Rick. Net orders for the full year grew 70% year over year, the highest growth rate in the industry. To achieve this growth, we constantly assess our sales each day in all communities. We monitor demand, mortgage rates and our competitors and then adjust pricing and incentives as needed.

謝謝你，瑞克。全年淨訂單年增70%，增幅為業界最高。為了實現這一成長，我們每天不斷評估所有社區的銷售額。我們監控需求、抵押貸款利率和競爭對手，然後根據需要調整定價和激勵措施。

Incentives peaked in October when mortgage rates hit a 23-year high. However, demand quickly resumed in November and December as some buyers were ready to take advantage of the decline in mortgage rates. As a result, incentives drop from 6% in October to 5.2% in December.

10 月份，當抵押貸款利率達到 23 年來的最高點時，激勵措施達到頂峰。然而，由於一些買家準備利用抵押貸款利率下降的機會，需求在 11 月和 12 月迅速恢復。結果，激勵措施從 10 月的 6% 下降到 12 月的 5.2%。

Net orders remained steady in November and December, despite the typical sales slowdown around the holiday season. We won't be specific on early 2024 orders other than to say sales velocity thus far in the quarter have meaningfully accelerated from our Q4 levels. And as always, we remain diligent on monitoring any shifts in the market dynamics.

儘管假期季節期間銷售通常放緩，但 11 月和 12 月淨訂單保持穩定。我們不會具體說明 2024 年初的訂單，只是說本季迄今的銷售速度較第四季的水準顯著加快。一如既往，我們仍然努力監控市場動態的任何變化。

The lack of supply in affordable homes has created a favorable backdrop for our value proposition builder, Trophy Signature Homes. Trophy was founded in 2018 and offers more affordable products that cater to both entry level and first time of epitome buyers. We believe homebuyers targeted by Trophy represent a deep and growing pool of potential customers. Since its founding, Trophy has grown from 33 closings in 2019 to 1,378 in 2023 as shown on slide 14.

經濟適用房供應不足為我們的價值主張建造商 Trophy Signature Homes 創造了有利的背景。Trophy 成立於 2018 年，提供更實惠的產品，滿足入門級和首次購買者的需求。我們相信，Trophy 的目標購屋者代表著龐大且不斷成長的潛在客戶群。自成立以來，Trophy 已從 2019 年的 33 家門市增加到 2023 年的 1,378 家，如幻燈片 14 所示。

Each share of Green Brick's revenues has also grown from less than 2% in its first year to more than 38% in 2023. In 2023, Trophy was individually ranked as the seventh largest homebuilder in DFW based on number of starts. We believe that 2023 was more than just a successful year for Trophy. It can also serve as a springboard for sustainable growth going forward based on our lot inventory, product desirability operational efficiency and scalability.

Green Brick 的每股營收份額也從第一年的不到 2% 成長到 2023 年的 38% 以上。2023 年，根據開工數量，Trophy 被單獨評為 DFW 第七大住宅建築商。我們相信 2023 年對 Trophy 來說不僅僅是成功的一年。它還可以作為基於我們的批次庫存、產品需求、營運效率和可擴展性的可持續成長的跳板。

Trophy's homes feature Aerie, open space and resonate with customers from wide-ranging and backgrounds, especially among our younger buyers, many features that come standard with trophy or expensive upgrades with other builders. Trophy is also a leading builder and constructing energy-efficient homes that bring savings to homebuyers for years to come, including offering in many homes, fully encapsulated spray foam insulation, tankless water heaters and Energy Star appliances. Trophy is designed to be efficient and spec heavy. This strategy is critical in the mortgage rate environment as many homebuyers today favor move-in rate homes.

Trophy 的住宅以鷹巢、開放空間為特色，並與來自廣泛和背景的客戶產生共鳴，特別是在我們的年輕買家中，許多功能是獎杯的標準配置或與其他建築商進行的昂貴升級。Trophy 也是一家領先的建築商，建造節能住宅，在未來幾年為購房者帶來節省，包括為許多住宅提供全封裝噴塗泡沫隔熱材料、無水箱熱水器和能源之星電器。Trophy 的設計目標是高效且規格齊全。這項策略在抵押貸款利率環境中至關重要，因為當今許多購屋者青睞入住利率房屋。

Our streamlined home buying process, including high-level standard features, eliminates decision fatigue for many buyers. This approach also creates predictability in material selection and cost enabling Trophy to be efficient in managing the construction process with purchase orders and simplified start packages. As a result, the current cycle time for Trophy is 3.9 months compared to a peak cycle time of nine months in 2022. For Green Brick overall, the current cycle time is 5.7 months down from peak cycle time of 10 months in 2022.

我們簡化的購屋流程，包括高水準的標準功能，消除了許多買家的決策疲勞。這種方法還創造了材料選擇和成本的可預測性，使 Trophy 能夠透過採購訂單和簡化的啟動包來高效管理施工流程。因此，Trophy 目前的週期時間為 3.9 個月，而 2022 年的峰值週期時間為 9 個月。總體而言，Green Brick 的當前週期時間比 2022 年 10 個月的峰值週期時間縮短了 5.7 個月。

Trophy's construction model is also highly scalable and location agnostic. We were able to successfully apply Trophy's play growth across the DSW Metroplex as well as Austin, a more challenging market than DFW in 2023. We have had great success in Austin since we opened our first community at the end of July of 2023. The sales pace in Austin during the fourth quarter averaged 4.5 homes per month, while incentives were consistent with Trophy's DFW market, and we look to recreate the same success in Houston in 2025.

Trophy 的建造模型還具有高度可擴展性且與位置無關。到 2023 年，我們能夠在 DSW Metroplex 以及奧斯汀（比 DFW 更具挑戰性的市場）成功應用 Trophy 的遊戲成長。自 2023 年 7 月底開設第一個社區以來，我們在奧斯汀取得了巨大成功。第四季奧斯汀的銷售速度平均為每月 4.5 套房屋，而激勵措施與 Trophy 的 DFW 市場一致，我們希望 2025 年在休士頓重現同樣的成功。

As we look forward, we remain focused on investing in land in a disciplined way. In 2023, we spent a total of approximately $425 million in purchases of land and finished lots as well as land development. We expect to ramp up our spend in 2024 for raw land acquisitions, finished lot purchases and land development to approximately $700 million in total.

展望未來，我們仍專注於以嚴謹的方式投資土地。2023年，我們總共花了約4.25億美元用於購買土地和成品地塊以及土地開發。我們預計到 2024 年將原廠收購、成品地塊購買和土地開發支出總額增加至約 7 億美元。

Ultimately, the strong buyer demand we've seen across all of our brands confirms our belief that strategically located infill and infill adjacent communities represent a significant opportunity for growth and high sales velocity. With strong starts and shorter cycle times, we believe that Green Brick is entering 2024 with a strong platform for generating growth and continuing to provide strong returns to our shareholders.

最終，我們在所有品牌中看到的強勁買家需求證實了我們的信念，即策略性定位的填充和填充相鄰社區代表著成長和高銷售速度的重要機會。憑藉強勁的開局和更短的周期時間，我們相信 Green Brick 將在進入 2024 年時擁有強大的平台來實現成長並繼續為我們的股東提供豐厚的回報。

Lastly, during the fourth quarter, we resumed stock buybacks and repurchased approximately 374,000 shares of stock at $47.9 per share. For the full year, we repurchased 1.18 million shares of stock at $38.46 per share for a total of $45.3 million representing approximately 2% of our shares outstanding. Share repurchases will remain in our toolbox as we continue to evaluate other investment opportunities as we strive to continue to deliver one of the best risk-adjusted returns in the industry.

最後，在第四季度，我們恢復了股票回購，並以每股 47.9 美元的價格回購了約 374,000 股股票。全年，我們以每股 38.46 美元的價格回購了 118 萬股股票，總金額為 4,530 萬美元，約占我們已發行股票的 2%。我們將繼續評估其他投資機會，努力繼續提供業界最佳的風險調整回報之一，股票回購仍將保留在我們的工具箱中。

With that, I will turn it over to Jim for closing remarks. Jim?

接下來，我將把它交給吉姆做總結發言。吉姆？

Thank you, Jed. 2023 was a phenomenal year for Green Brick marked by record results despite a challenging high interest rate environment. I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to our employees for their collective efforts in delivering exceptional homes to thousands of homebuyers as well as generating industry-leading performance. We remain steadfast in our commitment in delivering long-term value to our shareholders.

謝謝你，傑德。 2023 年對 Green Brick 來說是非凡的一年，儘管高利率環境充滿挑戰，但仍取得了創紀錄的業績。我謹向我們的員工表示衷心的感謝，感謝他們的集體努力，為成千上萬的購房者提供了卓越的住宅，並創造了行業領先的業績。我們堅定不移地致力於為股東創造長期價值。

As we look forward into 2024, the dynamic housing landscape creates many opportunities. Our land and lot positions, financial strength, and highly motivated and experienced employees sets the stage for an exciting future. In closing, I'm extremely pleased with our first quarter results, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the quarters to come.

展望 2024 年，充滿活力的房屋格局創造了許多機會。我們的土地和地塊位置、財務實力以及積極主動且經驗豐富的員工為令人興奮的未來奠定了基礎。最後，我對我們第一季的業績非常滿意，我們期待在未來幾季繼續保持這一勢頭。

This concludes our prepared remarks, and we will now open the line for questions. Thank you.

我們準備好的演講到此結束，現在我們將開始提問。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Alex Rygiel, B. Riley.

（操作說明）Alex Rygiel、B. Riley。

Thank you. And congratulations, gentlemen, on a nice year. A few questions here. First, definitely sounds like sales activity in the early part of this year has started very, very strong. It appears that the first quarter over the past three years has been your highest new order period throughout the year.

謝謝。先生們，恭喜您度過了美好的一年。這裡有幾個問題。首先，聽起來今年年初的銷售活動已經開始非常非常強勁。過去三年中第一季似乎是你們全年新訂單最高的時期。

So I guess my question here is two parts. Number one, maybe you can help us to understand that quarterly cadence that you've realized over the last three years? And why that is relative to your business? And then secondly, do you anticipate that the first quarter of 2024 could also be the biggest quarter of the year for net new home orders.

所以我想我的問題分為兩個部分。第一，也許您可以幫助我們了解您在過去三年中意識到的季度節奏？為什麼這與您的業務有關？其次，您是否預期 2024 年第一季也可能是今年新房淨訂單量最大的季度。

Alex, this is Jed Dolson, Yes, you are correct that this spring is looking a lot like last spring for us, which has looked like the spring before that. I think historically, the spring market in real estate has been the biggest quarter, and we're no different than probably other builders and seeing that same trend.

亞歷克斯，我是傑德·多爾森，是的，你說得對，今年春天對我們來說看起來很像去年春天，而去年春天看起來也很像之前的春天。我認為從歷史上看，房地產的春季市場一直是最大的季度，我們與其他建築商沒有什麼不同，也看到了同樣的趨勢。

Alex, this is Rick Costello. Thanks for joining. In 2021, early 2021, that's when price wasn't stopping anybody from buying. We were raising price and people were just pounding down the doors. Last year, it ended up being the high mark for the year because of what happened to rates in Q2. And basically, for the last six, seven months of the year, nobody was selling houses. So that was a little bit of an anomaly.

亞歷克斯，這是瑞克·科斯特洛。感謝您的加入。2021 年，即 2021 年初，價格並沒有阻止任何人購買。我們提高了價格，人們卻蜂擁而至。去年，由於第二季的利率變化，該利率最終成為年度高點。基本上，在一年的最後六、七個月裡，沒有人賣房子。所以這有點反常。

But 2023, the buyers woke up. Like Jed said, they've woken up again, certainly the movements in stabilization in rates last year and them actually coming down early this year, have been certainly blessings for the buyers.

但到了 2023 年，買家醒了。正如傑德所說，他們再次醒來，當然，去年利率穩定的走勢以及今年年初利率的實際下降，對買家來說無疑是福音。

And then secondly, when you think about the increase in land spend, have you witnessed any land price inflation out there in the marketplace? Or do you anticipate any?

其次，當您考慮土地支出的增加時，您是否目睹過市場上的土地價格上漲？或者你預計會有什麼嗎？

This is Jim. We have seen land price inflation. It's a competitive business for the better sites. A lot of the large peers, just like Green Brick have deleveraged, they have a lot of cash. We think that we still have a strategic advantage in the land side of our business because, particularly in some larger neighborhoods where they have mixed product types that we can put a Softgate homes in that's a high price point, a CB JENI that’s a townhouse price point and really unlike a pure lot developer when we're going through the entitlement process, we can actually show the municipalities product that we're going to build.

這是吉姆。我們看到了土地價格的上漲。對於更好的網站來說，這是一項競爭激烈的業務。很多大型同行，就像 Green Brick 一樣，已經去槓桿化，他們擁有大量現金。我們認為，我們在業務的土地方面仍然具有戰略優勢，因為，特別是在一些較大的社區，他們有混合的產品類型，我們可以在其中放置 Softgate 房屋，這是一個高價位，CB JENI 是一個聯排別墅的價格點，與純粹的地塊開發商不同，當我們進行權利流程時，我們實際上可以展示我們將要建造的市政產品。

It's not a product that might sell to some other builders that's a townhouse builder or a volume production builder. And we think that's really a huge advantage when you're going through the entitlement process, plus it's not like it's the first time we've built a neighborhood in many of these communities where we're doing entitlement. It may be how many communities we've done in Frisco, and that's a very difficult community Gen 14 and 15 so we have a long track record in these larger very active communities of doing what we say we're going to do, and they have a long, good history with us.

它不是一種可能出售給其他一些建築商（聯排別墅建築商或批量生產建築商）的產品。我們認為，當您經歷權利流程時，這確實是一個巨大的優勢，而且這並不是我們第一次在許多我們正在進行權利的社區中建立一個社區。這可能是我們在弗里斯科做了多少個社區，這是一個非常困難的第14 代和第15 代社區，因此我們在這些較大的非常活躍的社區中擁有長期的記錄，我們按照我們所說的去做，他們與我們有著悠久而美好的歷史。

Alex, this is Rick again. One of the dynamics here is that Green Brick really is different from most of the homebuilders out there, we are not doing anything off balance sheet. We don't have a double-digit cost of capital on buying finished lots. When we're talking about land prices, these are not -- these are deals that are being underwritten now that we're looking at bringing the loss to the market in 2025, 2026.

亞歷克斯，這又是瑞克。這裡的動態之一是 Green Brick 確實與大多數住宅建築商不同，我們沒有在資產負債表外做任何事情。我們購買成品地塊的資金成本並不高達兩位數。當我們談論土地價格時，這些不是——這些是現在正在承保的交易，我們正在考慮在 2025 年、2026 年將損失帶入市場。

We have a huge number of lots on our balance sheet that we've been developing. Because we're not buying finished lots, most everything is self-developed. We're not going to see that what's happening on the land side until '25, '26. And on the lot side, we're going to look like last year. In terms of cost perspective.

我們的資產負債表上有大量正在開發的項目。因為我們不購買成品，所以大多數東西都是自行開發的。直到 25 年、26 年我們才會看到陸地上發生的事。在很多方面，我們看起來會像去年一樣。從成本角度來看。

Carl Reichardt, BTIG.

卡爾雷查特 (Carl Reichardt)，BTIG。

So if Jed or whoever wants to answer this, we've seen a lot of your peers move over the last few years pretty aggressively into what would be considered entry-level housing, low-end price points. So as you look at what they're doing and you contrast Trophy Signatures product and strategy tactics, however you want to put it, what do you think the relative advantages of trophy are over the product that other builders are putting up for that similar consumer.

因此，如果傑德或任何想回答這個問題的人，我們已經看到許多同行在過去幾年中相當積極地進入了被認為是入門級住房的低端價格點。因此，當您查看他們正在做的事情並對比 Trophy Signatures 產品和策略策略時，無論您想如何表達，您認為 Trophy 相對於其他建築商為類似消費者推出的產品的相對優勢是什麼。

Yes, sure, Carl. I'll start with just reminding everybody that 60% of our business is non-Trophy today. And those are infill locations where we face very little competition, 40% is Trophy, we think the advantages there are that we are infill adjacent. We're in really attractive lot prices and better locations than say, these D&F locations. Additionally, our homes are very energy efficient compared to most every peer.

是的，當然，卡爾。首先我要提醒大家，今天我們 60% 的業務與獎盃無關。這些是填充位置，我們面臨的競爭很少，40％是獎杯，我們認為那裡的優勢是我們填充相鄰。我們的地塊價格非常有吸引力，而且位置也比這些 D&F 地點更好。此外，與大多數同齡人相比，我們的房屋非常節能。

We utilize, or we get the 45L rebate credit back on about 100% of Trophy homes this year. And the architecture is a little bit newer and fresher than some of the stuff that older builders that have been doing this for a long time have been doing. So as we mentioned during the call, Trophy has grown to the seventh biggest builder in DFW, which is the largest housing market in the country. We're very proud of that fact, and we're trying to climb even further up that ranking.

今年，我們利用或獲得了大約 100% Trophy 房屋的 45L 回扣信用。而且這個架構比那些長期從事此工作的老建築商所做的一些事情要更新一些。正如我們在電話會議中提到的，Trophy 已成長為 DFW 第七大建築商，DFW 是全國最大的房地產市場。我們對此感到非常自豪，並且正在努力進一步提升排名。

Carl, we were pleasantly surprised that one of the top three builders, I'm going to keep it in the group -- almost dumbed down and copied some of our more contemporary elevations. We found that many of the millennial buyers really don't want to live in their parents’ entry-level home, and that's really been branding typically is an interesting thing to analyze, but they really don't want to live in their parents' home or the largest builder's home.

卡爾，我們感到驚訝的是，排名前三的建築商之一，我將把它保留在組中 - 幾乎被簡化並複製了我們的一些更現代的立面。我們發現，許多千禧世代買家確實不想住在父母的入門級住宅中，這確實是品牌行銷通常是一件有趣的分析事情，但他們真的不想住在父母的房子裡' 的家或最大的建築商的家。

Yes, I understand I appreciate the comprehensive answer. I think, Jed, you said something interesting about Austin and its ramp and the sales pace that's strong. But you said that incentives there were consistent with what you saw. I assume you met with Trophy in Dallas. And it seems like the Dallas market, generally speaking, has held up better if you look at the macro data than Dallas has, so I'm interested in that dynamic.

是的，我明白我很欣賞全面的答案。我想，傑德，你說了一些關於奧斯汀及其強勁的成長和銷售速度的有趣的事情。但你說那裡的激勵措施跟你看到的一致。我想你在達拉斯見過 Trophy。一般來說，如果你看一下宏觀數據，達拉斯市場似乎比達拉斯市場表現得更好，所以我對這種動態很感興趣。

And then the follow-on related to incentives is I know you're not talking about order cadence and the first quarter yet. But can you talk about the trend in sales incentives or pricing across the Green Brick portfolio in the first quarter thus far?

然後與激勵相關的後續內容是我知道您還沒有談論訂單節奏和第一季。但您能談談迄今為止第一季 Green Brick 產品組合的銷售激勵或定價趨勢嗎？

We can all take that, Carl. We're actually in Austin right now. We do win on property tours, all day yesterday and looked at some properties we have under contract. And it's tougher than Dallas, margins are lower than Dallas, incentives are higher than Dallas.

我們都可以接受，卡爾。我們現在實際上在奧斯汀。昨天一整天，我們確實在房產參觀中獲勝，並查看了我們合約下的一些房產。而且它比達拉斯更艱難，利潤率比達拉斯低，激勵措施比達拉斯高。

At the same time, we think Austin is sixth or seventh largest housing market in the country. We're very excited about the long-term. I think we look at things differently than many public builders. We aren't trying to juice any quarter up or any next quarter up. We're really looking what's the best for our business four and five years down the road. And so yes, incentives are greater here, margins are lower here, but we think our Trophy is going to be really a top builder here eventually four or five years down the road.

同時，我們認為奧斯汀是全國第六或第七大房地產市場。我們對長期發展感到非常興奮。我認為我們看待事物的方式與許多公共建築商不同。我們並不試圖推動任何一個季度或下一個季度的成長。我們確實在尋找未來四、五年最適合我們業務的方法。所以，是的，這裡的激勵措施更大，利潤率更低，但我們認為我們的獎杯最終將成為這裡真正的頂級建設者，最終在四到五年後。

Carl, this is Rick. Thanks for your questions. From a directional standpoint, incentives are down in the first quarter from where they were through Q4. Like Jed said, over 60% of our business is not Trophy and which means that's all infill, infill adjacent, pretty much. We have seen demand through the first quarter in every single price point. We're selling $300,000 to $2 million. It's not just a Trophy story, but certainly, from a sales floor standpoint, we have everybody pit and stride with sales success and margin success.

卡爾，這是瑞克。感謝您的提問。從方向角度來看，第一季的激勵措施較第四季有所下降。正如 Jed 所說，我們 60% 以上的業務都不是 Trophy，這意味著幾乎都是填充、相鄰填充。我們已經看到第一季每個價格點的需求。我們的售價為 30 萬至 200 萬美元。這不僅僅是一個獎盃的故事，但當然，從銷售的角度來看，我們讓每個人都在銷售成功和利潤成功方面取得了進展。

Thank you, Rick. I’ll get back in the queue.

謝謝你，瑞克。我會回到隊列中。

Jay McCanless, Wedbush.

傑伊·麥卡利斯，韋德布希。

The first question I had, you called out the co-broker being up, and that was the reason SG&A delevered. What are those trends doing in the first quarter, similar or getting any better?

我提出的第一個問題是，你叫出了聯合經紀人，這就是 SG&A 去槓桿化的原因。第一季這些趨勢表現如何，是類似還是有改善？

It's been consistent since really the end of '22 that we've seen the co-broke activity back to where it was, and the payments are back to where they were. So there really were no surprises that are our SG&A has been consistently higher throughout 2023, by about a percentage point, maybe a little bit higher for the full year, a little bit less for Q4.

自 22 年底以來，我們一直看到共同破產活動回到了原來的水平，付款也回到了原來的水平。因此，我們的 SG&A 在 2023 年持續較高，大約一個百分點，全年可能高一點，第四季度低一點，這確實不足為奇。

I saw you had a comment today. There are no SG&A surprises, but I think that when you look at non-controlling interest, it was a little bit higher in Q4. But year over year, that number is right on top of '22 number in '23. So I think that fall to the bottom line is one of the reasons that you saw a little bit of an earnings differential between the analysts and what Green Brick accomplished. Also, the other factor there was the average selling price, where we’re now, we were 551, I believe, in Q3 and 544 in Q4.

我今天看到你有評論。SG&A 沒有意外，但我認為，當您查看非控制權益時，會發現第四季度的非控制權益略高一些。但年復一年，這個數字正好位於 23 年的 22 數字之上。因此，我認為跌至底線是你看到分析師與 Green Brick 所取得的成就之間存在一點收益差異的原因之一。另外，另一個因素是平均售價，我認為第三季是 551 美元，第四季是 544 美元。

We should continue at that level throughout 2024, mine to mix on the close is going to be a little bit higher than a lot of builders will experience and you might see some variation around that mid-500 number, simply because when you're selling houses from $300,000 to $2 million, you're going to get that variation.

我們應該在 2024 年繼續保持這個水平，我的收盤價將比許多建築商經歷的要高一些，你可能會看到圍繞 500 個數字的一些變化，因為當你出售時30萬美元到200萬美元之間的房子，你會得到這樣的改變。

But we believe we're in a stable environment from a cost standpoint as a stable environment, hopefully, depending on interest rates on the incentive side. And we should see a fairly consistent ASP as well. But volumes are looking good. As we've said, we're hitting around 900 a quarter on starts right now. So 2024 is looking good.

但我們相信，從成本的角度來看，我們處於一個穩定的環境，希望這取決於激勵方面的利率。我們也應該會看到一個相當一致的 ASP。但銷量看起來不錯。正如我們所說，目前我們每季的開工率達到 900 左右。所以 2024 年看起來不錯。

So what then -- you're saying mid-500s for an ASP is what we should expect?

那麼，您是說我們應該期望 ASP 達到 500 多歲？

Correct.

正確的。

Okay.

好的。

Now you won't see that in our ASP on backlog because Trophy is only 10% of our backlog now because it is a spec ready model. So we're carrying a lot of homes late in the construction process. Houses sold by Trophy. A lot of them are going straight to the closing table. So that ASP is an anomaly. Trophy sold and closed in the same quarter, 59% of their homes in Q4. So that's a dynamic that you just can't take much of a read from that backlog ASP.

現在您不會在我們的積壓訂單中看到這一點，因為 Trophy 現在只占我們積壓訂單的 10%，因為它是一個規範就緒模型。因此，我們在施工過程的後期運送了許多房屋。獎盃出售的房屋。他們中的許多人都會直接進入收盤桌。所以說ASP是個異常現象。Trophy 在同一季度售出了並交割了 59% 的房屋。因此，這是一種動態，您無法從積壓的 ASP 中進行大量閱讀。

Okay. And then in terms of raising prices, have you been able to raise prices at all with trophy and/or with some of the infill locations? How is that trending?

好的。然後在提高價格方面，您是否能夠透過獎盃和/或某些填充位置來提高價格？趨勢如何？

Yes, Jay, this is Jim. On our infill locations, and it's inversely related to the incentives, our ability to raise prices, we're raising prices very quickly on the AAA infill locations. There's no incentives. And what I would consider our most remote volume production exterior perimeter locations, incentives could be 7% to 8%. So there's zero raising prices aggressively to maintaining prices and still having to deal with incentives with a much more marginal buyer in Trophy perimeter location.

是的，傑伊，這是吉姆。在我們的填充地點，這與激勵措施、我們提高價格的能力成反比，我們正在非常迅速地提高 AAA 填充地點的價格。沒有任何激勵措施。我認為我們最偏遠的量產外部周邊地點的激勵措施可能是 7% 到 8%。因此，為了維持價格而大幅提高價格的成本為零，並且仍然必須應對獎杯週邊位置的邊際買家的激勵措施。

Jay, we have seen since just -- I think we mentioned in the script, December incentives were less than October incentives and that trends continued through the spring.

傑伊，我們剛剛看到——我想我們在劇本中提到過，12 月的激勵措施少於 10 月的激勵措施，並且這種趨勢持續到整個春季。

Okay, that sounds great. Thanks for taking my question.

好吧，聽起來不錯。感謝您提出我的問題。

Alex Barron, Housing Research Center.

亞歷克斯·巴倫，住房研究中心。

Thank you, gentlemen, and great job this year, best wishes for this New Year. So I'm looking at your starts for 2023, and it looks like you guys were over 3,700 units obviously, much lower deliveries and orders. So I'm just wondering if that is in the ballpark of what you guys are expecting for deliveries this year? In other words, is there just basically a lag effect?

謝謝你們，先生們，今年工作出色，祝新年好。因此，我正在查看你們 2023 年的開局情況，看起來你們的銷量顯然超過了 3,700 台，交付量和訂單量要低得多。所以我只是想知道這是否在你們預計今年交付量的範圍內？換句話說，基本上只是存在滯後效應嗎？

Yes, I think that is what we're expecting. We really don't property broadcast work, but we expect, but we're not starting homes that we don't expect to close. And we're still seeing increasing demand for our business. What do you want to add on that, Jed?

是的，我認為這就是我們所期待的。我們確實不進行房產廣播工作，但我們期望，但我們不會啟動我們不希望關閉的房屋。我們仍然看到對我們業務的需求不斷增加。傑德，你想對此補充什麼？

Yes. I'd just say we're very excited because we've ever since the start of COVID, we really have been facing lot delivery bottlenecks, and we really feel for the first time that we have all the lots that we need on the ground to execute our business plan for this year.

是的。我想說的是，我們非常興奮，因為自從新冠疫情爆發以來，我們確實一直面臨著批次交付瓶頸，而且我們第一次真正感受到我們擁有我們所需的所有批次執行我們今年的業務計劃。

And we have more neighborhoods. Rick, how many more neighbors do we have? We have about 90 now?

我們還有更多的社區。瑞克，我們還有多少鄰居？我們現在大約有90個？

Correct.

正確的。

Versus 83 on the average last year, I think. We can verify that, Rick?

我認為去年的平均數為 83。我們可以證實這一點，瑞克？

Yeah.

是的。

Now in terms of backlog conversion, you guys hit pretty high numbers throughout 2023. Do you believe there's any reason that wouldn't be similar this year?

現在就積壓訂單轉換而言，你們在 2023 年達到了相當高的數字。您認為今年有什麼理由不會類似嗎？

Alex, we really don't look at backlog conversion in order to figure out what our run rate is going to be the best thing you can do is look at what our starts are and how those are pacing. With only 10% of backlog being in our highest volume builder, it appears that there is a high backlog percentage, but it just doesn't equate.

亞歷克斯，我們真的不會透過積壓轉換來確定我們的運行率，你能做的最好的事情就是看看我們的啟動情況以及它們的節奏。由於只有 10% 的待辦事項出現在我們產量最高的建造器中，因此待辦事項百分比似乎很高，但並不等同。

We have a chart in our slide deck that shows the quarterly starts for the last eight quarters. And you can see pretty clearly that we're stabilizing in that around 900 number. So that's our expectation from a closing velocity standpoint rather than looking at backlog.

我們的幻燈片中有一個圖表，顯示了過去八個季度的季度開始。您可以非常清楚地看到，我們正在穩定在 900 左右的數字。因此，這是我們從關閉速度角度而不是從積壓角度的期望。

And the other thing I want to add, Alex, is that backlogs are not created equally. When you take a look at our backlog because we take a lot more earnest money deposits from a buyer even at Trophy in Dallas, it's $5,000 versus a wish and a prayer by some of our competitors. And we have a very low cancellation rate. So when you look at our backlog, it's a much less risky backlog to analyze in some peers.

亞歷克斯，我想補充的另一件事是，積壓工作並不是平等產生的。當你看一下我們的積壓訂單時，因為我們從買家那裡收取了更多的保證金，甚至在達拉斯的Trophy 上，你會發現，與我們一些競爭對手的願望和祈禱相比，它的價格只有5,000 美元。而且我們的取消率非常低。因此，當您查看我們的積壓工作時，會發現在某些同業中分析積壓工作的風險要小得多。

Right. Maybe let it differently, is your tendency to build more spec likely to go up or stay the same? And is your build time improving? Or is it likely to stay the same?

正確的。也許換一種說法，您構建更多規格的傾向可能會上升還是保持不變？您的建置時間是否有所改善？或者它可能保持不變嗎？

It's improved. Trophy is down to about 120 days. We don't see a lot of improvement from that going forward. Jed, what are your thoughts?

已經好轉了獎杯的有效期限縮短至 120 天左右。我們認為未來不會有太大改善。傑德，你有什麼想法？

Yes. There's a correlation between, we selling one store or two stores we can shave a little bit more time if we're selling one store, we are seeing with the supply chain, the efficiencies of the move-up and second-time move-up and buyers, which represent our other brands other than Trophy. We're seeing those buyers select the appropriate materials at the design center, the suppliers being able to provide that material, we're able to close those houses. So as we mentioned earlier in our call, we're seeing improvement in the upper end brands as well.

是的。我們出售一家或兩家商店之間存在相關性，如果我們出售一家商店，我們可以節省更多時間，我們在供應鏈中看到，升級和第二次升級的效率和買家，他們代表我們除Trophy 以外的其他品牌。我們看到這些買家在設計中心選擇合適的材料，供應商能夠提供該材料，我們將能夠關閉這些房子。正如我們之前在電話會議中提到的，我們也看到高端品牌的進步。

Alex, we should remain about where we're at right now. When you look at Green Brick, you have to remember that we have CB JENI, the largest town home builder in DFW and our builder in Atlanta, the Providence Group builds a lot of town homes too. So we've got two townhome models out there as well as Trophy and all of those, by their nature, are heavy spec. You release a building out of time to sales in a townhouse community and we're releasing the houses in later stages of construction at Trophy. So we will continue to be a high spec builder. Yes, sir.

亞歷克斯，我們應該保持現在的狀態。當您看到 Green Brick 時，您必須記住，我們有 CB JENI，這是 DFW 最大的聯排別墅建築商，我們在亞特蘭大的建築商普羅維登斯集團也建造了許多聯排別墅。因此，我們有兩種聯排別墅模型以及 Trophy，所有這些模型本質上都是重型規格。您在聯排別墅社區中釋放了一座超出銷售時間的建築，而我們在 Trophy 釋放了處於後期施工階段的房屋。因此，我們將繼續成為高規格的建築商。是的先生。

Okay. And if I could ask one more. Obviously, you guys left the industry with gross margins this year. At the same time, things slowed in the fourth quarter with mortgage rates hitting 8%. So is there any reason that your margins are going to start contracting from here? Or do you believe they're somewhat sustainable?

好的。如果我可以再問一個嗎？顯然，你們今年帶著毛利率離開了這個行業。與此同時，第四季的情況有所放緩，抵押貸款利率達到 8%。那麼，你們的利潤率是否會從這裡開始收縮呢？還是你認為它們在某種程度上是可持續的？

Well, tell us what's going to happen with interest rates.

好吧，告訴我們利率會發生什麼事。

Well, I can tell you that we haven't seen margin degradation going into this year so far, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that that's going to continue. We have a good lot position, and I don't want to give into a 15-minute explanation of how we underwrite lots and how they're stable in the longer life neighborhood, we actually gained ground versus that option lots, but we're still feeling very great that we're going to have the history leading margins in '24.

好吧，我可以告訴你，今年到目前為止，我們還沒有看到利潤率下降，我們祈禱這種情況會持續下去。我們有一個很好的地塊位置，我不想花 15 分鐘解釋我們如何承保地塊以及它們如何在壽命較長的社區中保持穩定，我們實際上比那些選擇地塊取得了進展，但我們'我們仍然感覺非常好，因為我們將在24 年創下歷史領先優勢。

Thank you very much. And best of luck.

非常感謝。祝你好運。

(Operator Instructions) Carl Reichardt, BTIG. Please go ahead.

（操作員說明）Carl Reichardt，BTIG。請繼續。

A few more follow-ups for you guys. One, just on a number of neighborhoods. I think you were up 16% on average Q4 versus -- I think that's the fastest you've grown since right after the pandemic. How are you feeling about community count growth in '24, recognizing that you're going to have a few more long-lived communities and the mix of stores is different product to product? But in terms of growth rate there, maybe you can give me a sense of what you're thinking through as you look at your book.

為你們提供更多後續行動。一，只是在一些社區。我認為第四季平均成長了 16%，這是自疫情爆發以來成長最快的一次。您對 24 年社區數量的增長有何看法？您認識到您將擁有一些更長壽的社區，並且商店的組合因產品而異？但就成長率而言，也許你可以讓我了解你在看你的書時正在思考什麼。

I don't think we're really going to guide on that. Like you suggested, Carl, it really is very different for Trophy. We have many more long-term communities with multiple phases where we're rolling from phase to phase. So at other builders that those might be new communities, but for us, we're just not gapping out. These end up being really long-lived communities. Again, the best thing that you can look at from a growth rate is our starts.

我不認為我們真的會在這方面提供指導。正如你所建議的，卡爾，獎杯確實非常不同。我們有更多具有多個階段的長期社區，我們正在從一個階段滾動到另一個階段。因此，對於其他建築商來說，這些可能是新社區，但對我們來說，我們並沒有退出。這些最終成為真正長壽的社區。再說一次，你可以從成長率中看到的最好的東西是我們的開始。

Okay. Sure. I'm thinking really just more about modeling orders. But fair enough. I'm assuming there'll be growth this year. That will be the thinking just given what looks like it's in the book in terms of inventory. So that's where I'm headed.

好的。當然。我實際上更多地考慮了建模訂單。但很公平。我估計今年會有成長。考慮到書中關於庫存的內容，這將是我們的想法。這就是我要去的地方。

And then, Rick, you also mentioned talking about your cash position and opportunities that you might see in the marketplace? Well, okay. So we could look at potential acquisitions. We could look at more share repurchase activity jumping up. We could look at just continued focus on growing the land pool. As you think about the alternatives for spare capital that you have, where would you rank those options right now?

然後，里克，您還提到談論您的現金狀況和您可能在市場上看到的機會？哦，那好吧。所以我們可以考慮潛在的收購。我們可以看到更多股票回購活動的增加。我們可以考慮繼續關注擴大土地儲備。當您考慮現有閒置資金的替代方案時，您現在會將這些選項排在什麼位置？

Well, actually, we rank them internally, but not externally. So I really can't show -- (multiple speakers)

嗯，實際上，我們在內部對它們進行排名，而不是在外部。所以我真的無法展示——（多位發言者）

Well, here’s your chance to do it externally, Jim.

好吧，吉姆，這是你在外部做這件事的機會。

(laughter) But it’s an interesting process. And I’ll give you an example. We were looking at a very low land transaction in Austin yesterday that’s unique. We’ve been working on it for a very long time. We have a very similar deal in Dallas that we’ve been working on for a very long time. We have a very long firm deal. We’ve been looking in Atlanta.

（笑聲）但這是一個有趣的過程。我給你舉個例子。昨天我們在奧斯汀看到了一筆非常低的土地交易，這是獨一無二的。我們已經為此努力了很長時間。我們在達拉斯有一項非常類似的交易，我們已經為此努力了很長時間。我們有一個很長期的堅定協議。我們一直在亞特蘭大尋找。

We’ve been working on the entitlement for two years. And we’re waiting to see how all those things play out against buying stock and investing more in our business. I can say that we probably aren’t going to be an acquirer of a private builder, everybody asks, how is your A&D looking? I look at deals. Actually, the deal flows have slowed down because I think all of the boutique brokers know that any of the deals that they show us are not going to be accretive to our earnings. So our deal flow from an acquisition of a private builder is virtually stopped.

我們已經為這項權利努力了兩年。我們正在等待，看看所有這些因素對購買股票和增加對我們業務的投資有何影響。我可以說，我們可能不會成為私人建築商的收購者，每個人都會問，你們的 A&D 看起來怎麼樣？我看優惠。事實上，交易流量已經放緩，因為我認為所有精品經紀人都知道，他們向我們展示的任何交易都不會增加我們的收入。因此，我們收購私人建築商的交易流實際上已經停止。

And Carl, you could see from, I believe, Jed mentioned that our land finished lot and land development spend is going to go up from $430 million to over $700 million or approximately $700 million. That's subject to deals penciling out and getting ready to close, like Jim just mentioned, as these things require constant attention. But that's quite an increase. Our cash flow is exceedingly strong, given our margins, given our increasing volumes, et cetera. So it's a good problem to have.

卡爾，我相信，傑德提到我們的土地完工地塊和土地開發支出將從 4.3 億美元增加到超過 7 億美元或大約 ​​7 億美元。正如吉姆剛才提到的，這取決於交易的準備和準備完成，因為這些事情需要持續關注。但這是相當大的成長。考慮到我們的利潤率、銷量的增加等等，我們的現金流非常強勁。所以這是一個好問題。

We're still with $180 million on the balance sheet, nothing drawn on $360 million of lines of credit. We have tremendous liquidity and the ability to move in a moment. So it's clearly a function of what presents itself in terms of being ready to close on the land side.

我們的資產負債表上仍有 1.8 億美元，沒有動用 3.6 億美元的信貸額度。我們擁有巨大的流動性和瞬間行動的能力。因此，這顯然是陸側關閉準備就緒的表現。

That makes a lot of sense. All right. Thanks. Appreciate that.

這很有意義。好的。謝謝。感謝。

Since there are no further questions at this time and it does conclude today's conference call. Thank you so much, and you may now disconnect.

由於目前沒有進一步的問題，今天的電話會議確實結束了。非常感謝您，現在可以斷開連接了。