MDC Holdings Inc (MDC) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the MDC Holdings Third Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. (Operator Instructions) Please note today's event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Derek Kimmerle, Vice President and Corporate Controller. Please go ahead.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 MDC Holdings 2022 年第三季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）今天的演示結束後，將有機會提問。 （操作員說明）請注意今天的活動正在錄製中。我現在想將會議轉交給副總裁兼公司財務總監 Derek Kimmerle。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to MDC Holdings 2022 Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. On the call with me today, I have Larry Mizel, our Executive Chairman; David Mandarich, Chief Executive Officer; and Bob Martin, Chief Financial Officer. (Operator Instructions) Before turning the call over to Larry and David, it should be noted that certain statements made during this conference call, including those related to MDC's business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows, strategies and prospects and responses to questions may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

謝謝你。女士們，先生們，早上好，歡迎來到 MDC Holdings 2022 年第三季度收益電話會議。今天與我通話的有我們的執行主席拉里·米澤爾（Larry Mizel）；首席執行官大衛·曼達里奇；和首席財務官 Bob Martin。 （操作員說明）在將電話轉交給拉里和大衛之前，應注意本次電話會議期間所做的某些陳述，包括與 MDC 的業務、財務狀況、經營結果、現金流、戰略和前景以及對問題可能包含 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》含義內的前瞻性陳述。

These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These and other factors that could impact the company's actual performance are set forth in the company's third quarter 2022 Form 10-Q, which is expected to be filed with the SEC today. It should also be noted that SEC Regulation G requires that certain information accompany the use of non-GAAP financial measures. Any information required by Regulation G is posted on our website with our webcast slides.

這些陳述涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他因素，可能導致公司的實際結果、業績或成就與前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的結果、業績或成就存在重大差異。公司 2022 年第三季度 10-Q 表中列出了可能影響公司實際業績的這些因素和其他因素，預計將於今天向美國證券交易委員會提交。還應該注意的是，美國證券交易委員會 G 條例要求某些信息伴隨使用非公認會計原則財務措施。條例 G 要求的任何信息都與我們的網絡廣播幻燈片一起發佈在我們的網站上。

And now I will turn the call over to Mr. Mizel for his opening remarks.

現在我將把電話轉給 Mizel 先生髮表開幕詞。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today as we go over our results for the third quarter of 2022 and provide an update on current market conditions. MDC generated net income of $144 million or $1.98 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2022. Home sales revenues increased 12% year-over-year to $1.4 billion, and home sales gross margins for the quarter were 22.7%. Excluding home impairments, home sales gross margins expanded 120 basis points year-over-year to 24.7%, as our team did an excellent job of delivering homes in backlog and maintaining price integrity and what continues to be a difficult market environment. Since our last quarterly update, mortgage rates have risen another 100 basis points, putting additional strain on new home affordability and demand in our markets.

早上好，感謝您今天加入我們，我們將回顧 2022 年第三季度的業績並提供有關當前市場狀況的最新信息。 MDC 在 2022 年第三季度產生了 1.44 億美元的淨收入或每股攤薄收益 1.98 美元。房屋銷售收入同比增長 12% 至 14 億美元，本季度房屋銷售毛利率為 22.7%。不包括房屋減值，房屋銷售毛利率同比增長 120 個基點至 24.7%，因為我們的團隊在交付積壓房屋和保持價格完整性以及仍然困難的市場環境方面做得非常出色。自我們上次季度更新以來，抵押貸款利率又上升了 100 個基點，給我們市場的新房負擔能力和需求帶來了額外的壓力。

Gross orders for the third quarter came in at 1,569, which equated to an absorption pace of 2.4 homes per community per month. However, due to a spike in cancellations, our net order total for the quarter came in significantly below our expectations. We believe the combination of rising interest rates and a steady stream of negative news surrounding the future of housing and the overall economy eroded the confidence of prospective homebuyers and led them to reconsider their purchase.

第三季度的總訂單量為 1,569 套，相當於每個社區每月 2.4 套房屋的吸收速度。然而，由於取消數量激增，我們本季度的淨訂單總額大大低於我們的預期。我們認為，利率上升以及圍繞住房未來和整體經濟的負面消息源源不斷地侵蝕了潛在購房者的信心，並導致他們重新考慮購買。

Another factor that contributed to the order shortfall was our strategic decision to focus on delivering homes and backlog rather than aggressively chasing sales during a typically slower seasonal period for our industry. We continue to believe that the long-term fundamentals driving new home construction remain positive and that there is a strong desire to own a home in this country. However, we expect the near-term sales environment will remain challenging until there is more clarity around the future of interest rates. In light of these industry headwinds we have refocused our efforts on generating cash, fortifying the balance sheet and taking cost out of the business.

導致訂單短缺的另一個因素是我們的戰略決策是專注於交付房屋和積壓訂單，而不是在我們行業通常較慢的季節性時期積極追逐銷售。我們仍然相信，推動新房建設的長期基本面仍然是積極的，並且強烈希望在這個國家擁有房屋。然而，我們預計近期的銷售環境仍將充滿挑戰，直到利率的未來更加明朗。鑑於這些行業逆風，我們將工作重心重新集中在產生現金、鞏固資產負債表和降低業務成本上。

We ended the third quarter with $744 million in cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities, a debt-to-capital ratio of 33.2% and a net debt-to-capital ratio of 19.9%. Our control lot count declined 20% year-over-year as we approved virtually no new land deals during the quarter and walked away from over $11 million in option deposits and pre-acquisition costs. For the option agreements, we still have in place -- we have renegotiated or we are in the process of renegotiating the terms of many of those agreements. These actions, coupled with our focus on delivering homes and backlog and rightsizing our cost structure should put us in a very strong financial position at year-end. Our leadership team has been through several housing downturns over the course of our careers, giving us a broad perspective on how to navigate difficult operating environments. Market corrections are a natural and often times healthy occurrence in our industry and usually lead to market share gains for the well-capitalized builders when things do improve.

我們在第三季度結束時擁有 7.44 億美元的現金和現金等價物以及有價證券，債務資本比率為 33.2%，淨債務資本比率為 19.9%。我們的控制地塊數量同比下降 20%，因為我們在本季度幾乎沒有批准新的土地交易，並且放棄了超過 1100 萬美元的期權押金和收購前成本。對於期權協議，我們仍然存在——我們已經重新談判，或者我們正在重新談判其中許多協議的條款。這些行動，加上我們專注於交付房屋和積壓以及調整我們的成本結構，應該使我們在年底時處於非常強勁的財務狀況。我們的領導團隊在我們的職業生涯中經歷了幾次房地產市場低迷，讓我們對如何應對艱難的運營環境有了廣闊的視野。市場調整在我們的行業中是自然而然的，而且通常是健康的，當情況確實有所改善時，通常會為資本充足的建築商帶來市場份額的增加。

We plan on being one of those builders and are positioning our company accordingly. We have no senior note maturities coming due the remainder of this decade and enough lots in the pipeline to fulfill our delivery projections through 2024, allowing us to operate from a position of strength during this period of uncertainty. Our financial strength should also give investors' confidence in our ability to pay our industry-leading dividend, which currently stands at $2 per share on an annualized basis. As a result, I continue to be optimistic about long-term outlook for our company. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to David, who will provide more detail on our operating performance this quarter.

我們計劃成為這些建設者之一，並相應地定位我們的公司。在這十年的剩餘時間裡，我們沒有到期的優先票據到期，並且有足夠的數量來滿足我們到 2024 年的交付預測，使我們能夠在這段不確定的時期內以強勢的地位運作。我們的財務實力也應該讓投資者對我們支付行業領先股息的能力充滿信心，目前每年的股息為每股 2 美元。因此，我繼續對我們公司的長期前景持樂觀態度。有了這個，我想把電話轉給大衛，他將提供更多關於我們本季度運營業績的細節。

Thank you, Larry, and good morning to everyone. MDC was once able to deliver on its stated guidance for the third quarter by closing 2,387 homes at an average sales price of $5.90 and generating a homebuilding gross margin before impairments of 24.7%. This was no small feat considering the supply chain issues, labor shortages and municipal delays that continue to act as headwinds for our industry. Phoenix, Utah and Sacramento poised the highest year-over-year delivery growth for our company, while Phoenix, Northern California and Jacksonville generated the best homebuilding gross margins.

謝謝你，拉里，大家早上好。 MDC 曾經能夠以 5.90 美元的平均銷售價格關閉 2,387 套房屋，並在減值前產生 24.7% 的房屋建築毛利率，從而實現了其第三季度的既定指導。考慮到供應鏈問題、勞動力短缺和市政延誤繼續成為我們行業的逆風，這可不是一件小事。鳳凰城、猶他州和薩克拉門託的交付量同比增長最高，而鳳凰城、北加州和傑克遜維爾的房屋建築毛利率最高。

Similar to last quarter, we saw improving conditions on the front end of the construction process but continued to experience long lead times and delays on the back end. We are working diligently with our trade vendors and suppliers to find solutions to these issues and expect to see some improvement over time as the slowdown in order activity translates into better trade availability. As Larry mentioned, we experienced softer demand and increased cancellations in the third quarter, resulting in a disappointing net order total for the period. Our monthly net order results mirrored the movement in mortgage rates with September being our most difficult month.

與上個季度類似，我們看到施工流程前端的條件有所改善，但後端的交貨時間和延誤仍然很長。我們正在與我們的貿易供應商和供應商一起努力尋找解決這些問題的方法，並希望隨著時間的推移看到一些改善，因為訂單活動的放緩轉化為更好的貿易可用性。正如拉里所說，我們在第三季度經歷了需求疲軟和取消訂單增加，導致該期間的淨訂單總額令人失望。我們的月度淨訂單結果反映了抵押貸款利率的變化，9 月是我們最困難的月份。

Cancellation activity in the second quarter was largely driven by affordability issues due to the sudden increase in mortgage rates. Cancellation activity in the third quarter seemed to be driven more by psychological factors than financial ones. As a percentage of buyers who could still afford to move forward with their purchase at higher rates compelled to cancel. We are currently offering incentives to spur demand at our communities, including financing incentives aimed at lowering a prospective monthly house payment.

第二季度的取消活動主要是由於抵押貸款利率突然上升導致的負擔能力問題。第三季度的取消活動似乎更多地受心理因素而非財務因素驅動。作為仍然有能力以更高價格繼續購買的買家的百分比被迫取消。我們目前正在提供激勵措施來刺激我們社區的需求，包括旨在降低預期每月房屋付款的融資激勵措施。

In the third quarter, incentives as a percentage of the dollar value or gross new orders increased approximately 400 basis points year-over-year and 280 basis points versus the second quarter of 2022. Protecting the backlog and delivering as many homes in the fourth quarter as possible remains our primary goal for the remainder of the year. However, as we close more of our legacy backlog and open new communities ahead of the spring selling season, our focus will be the sales side of the business with an emphasis on sales pace along with rebuilding the backlog. Now I'd like to turn the call over to Bob, who will provide more detail on our quarterly results and forward-looking guidance on some key metrics for our business.

第三季度，激勵措施占美元價值或新訂單總額的百分比同比增長約 400 個基點，與 2022 年第二季度相比增長 280 個基點。在第四季度保護積壓並交付盡可能多的房屋盡可能地保持我們今年剩餘時間的主要目標。然而，隨著我們在春季銷售旺季之前關閉更多的遺留積壓訂單並開設新社區，我們的重點將是業務的銷售方面，重點是銷售速度以及重建積壓訂單。現在我想將電話轉給 Bob，他將提供有關我們季度業績的更多詳細信息以及對我們業務的一些關鍵指標的前瞻性指導。

Thanks, David, and good morning, everyone. During the third quarter, we generated net income of $144.4 million or $1.98 per diluted share, representing a 1% decrease from the third quarter of 2021. Pretax income from our homebuilding operations rose by $3.1 million or 2% from the third quarter of 2021 to $168.2 million. This increase was driven by home sale revenues, which grows 12% year-over-year to $1.41 billion. However, the increase was largely offset by an 80 basis point decrease in our gross margin from home sales to 22.7%. The gross margin decline was primarily due to inventory impairments of $28.4 million, impacting 7 communities within our West segment and 2 communities within our East segment. The impairments mostly related to communities already open for sale as well as a couple of communities scheduled for opening during the fourth quarter.

謝謝，大衛，大家早上好。第三季度，我們的淨收入為 1.444 億美元或稀釋後每股收益 1.98 美元，比 2021 年第三季度下降 1%。我們的住宅建築業務的稅前收入比 2021 年第三季度增加 310 萬美元或 2%，至1.682億美元。這一增長是由房屋銷售收入推動的，該收入同比增長 12% 至 14.1 億美元。然而，這一增長在很大程度上被我們的房屋銷售毛利率下降 80 個基點至 22.7% 所抵消。毛利率下降主要是由於 2840 萬美元的庫存減值，影響了我們西區的 7 個社區和東區的 2 個社區。損害主要與已經開放出售的社區以及計劃在第四季度開放的幾個社區有關。

Our Financial Services pretax income decreased during the third quarter of 2022 to $17.6 million. This decrease was primarily due to our mortgage operations as we have seen profitability per loan locked, sold and closed returned to more historical levels with the significantly increased level of competition in the primary mortgage market. Further, within our mortgage business, we saw a decrease in the number of loans locked during the third quarter due to the higher volume of long-term interest rate locks utilized in the second quarter of 2022. The decrease in mortgage operations was partially offset by our insurance operations, which benefited from increased premium revenue within our captive insurance companies.

我們的金融服務稅前收入在 2022 年第三季度下降至 1760 萬美元。這一下降主要是由於我們的抵押貸款業務，因為隨著初級抵押貸款市場競爭水平的顯著增加，我們看到每筆鎖定、出售和關閉的貸款的盈利能力恢復到歷史水平。此外，在我們的抵押貸款業務中，由於 2022 年第二季度使用的長期利率鎖定量增加，我們看到第三季度鎖定的貸款數量有所減少。抵押貸款業務的減少被部分抵消我們的保險業務受益於我們專屬保險公司的保費收入增加。

Our tax rate decreased from 24.3% to 22.3% for the 2022 third quarter. The decrease in rate was driven by the extension of the federal energy efficient home tax credits during the quarter, which was partially offset by an increase in nondeductible executive compensation. We delivered 2,387 homes during the quarter, which represented a 1% decrease year-over-year, but exceeded the midpoint of our previously estimated range for the quarter of 2,200 to 2,500 closings. The average selling price of homes delivered during the quarter increased 13% to $590,000. This was primarily the result of price increases implemented over the past 2 years.

2022 年第三季度，我們的稅率從 24.3% 降至 22.3%。稅率下降的原因是本季度聯邦節能家庭稅收抵免的擴大，部分被不可扣除的高管薪酬的增加所抵消。我們在本季度交付了 2,387 套房屋，同比下降 1%，但超過了我們先前估計的本季度 2,200 至 2,500 套關閉範圍的中點。本季度交付房屋的平均售價上漲 13% 至 590,000 美元。這主要是由於過去兩年實施的價格上漲所致。

Our sale to close cycle times for closed homes remained extended and are unlikely to materially improve in the fourth quarter. With that said, we believe cycle times have the potential to improve in 2023 and be a positive catalyst for closing volume longer term. We currently anticipate home deliveries for the 2022 fourth quarter of between 2,200 and 2,500 units, and we expect the average selling price of these units to be between $570,000 and $580,000. There continues to be a heightened risk of underperformance relative to our forecast this quarter due to the increased volatility of economic and industry conditions.

我們出售關閉房屋的關閉週期時間仍然延長，並且不太可能在第四季度有實質性改善。話雖如此，我們認為周期時間有可能在 2023 年得到改善，並成為長期成交量的積極催化劑。我們目前預計 2022 年第四季度的家庭交付量在 2,200 至 2,500 個單位之間，我們預計這些單位的平均售價將在 570,000 美元至 580,000 美元之間。由於經濟和行業狀況的波動性增加，相對於我們本季度的預測，業績不佳的風險繼續增加。

Gross margin from home sales decreased by 80 basis points year-over-year to 22.7%. As previously mentioned, the decrease was primarily due to inventory impairments recognized during the quarter. However, increased building costs as well as an increase in incentives also contributed to the decline. Incentives on closed homes increased 130 basis points year-over-year, of which 40 basis points related to financing incentives offered through our mortgage company. The level of financing incentives will likely increase in the near term as we continue to use these incentives as a tool to address affordability concerns brought about by higher mortgage rates.

房屋銷售毛利率同比下降 80 個基點至 22.7%。如前所述，下降主要是由於本季度確認的庫存減值。然而，建築成本的增加以及激勵措施的增加也導致了下降。封閉式房屋的激勵措施同比增加 130 個基點，其中 40 個基點與通過我們的抵押貸款公司提供的融資激勵措施有關。隨著我們繼續使用這些激勵措施作為解決更高抵押貸款利率帶來的負擔能力問題的工具，短期內融資激勵措施的水平可能會增加。

Excluding inventory impairments, our gross margin from home sales improved across each of our segments with our West segment having the highest absolute level and our East segment having the largest year-over-year increase. These improvements were driven by price increases implemented across nearly all of our communities over the past 2 years. We are currently expecting gross margin from home sales for the 2022 fourth quarter of between 20% and 22%, assuming no impairments or warranty adjustments. Our total dollar SG&A expense for the 2022 third quarter increased $21.3 million from the 2021 third quarter, driven by increased general and administrative expenses. This resulted in a 40 basis point increase in our SG&A expense as a percentage of home sale revenues. General and administrative expenses increased $20.9 million from the prior year quarter to $80.9 million. This increase primarily resulted from an increase in stock-based compensation expense as we recognized $15 million of expense related to equity awards granted during the quarter.

不包括庫存減值，我們每個部門的房屋銷售毛利率都有所提高，其中西部部門的絕對水平最高，東部部門的同比增幅最大。這些改進是由過去 2 年我們幾乎所有社區實施的價格上漲推動的。假設沒有減值或保修調整，我們目前預計 2022 年第四季度的房屋銷售毛利率在 20% 至 22% 之間。由於一般和管理費用增加，我們 2022 年第三季度的 SG&A 總美元費用比 2021 年第三季度增加了 2130 萬美元。這導致我們的 SG&A 費用佔房屋銷售收入的百分比增加了 40 個基點。一般和行政費用比去年同期增加 2090 萬美元，達到 8090 萬美元。這一增長主要是由於基於股票的薪酬費用增加，因為我們確認了與本季度授予的股權獎勵相關的 1500 萬美元費用。

As Larry noted, we have taken steps to reduce our general and administrative expenses moving forward. We have seen our quarter end headcount decreased 11% from its peak earlier this year and continue to evaluate other opportunities for additional cost savings. We currently estimate that our general and administrative expense for the fourth quarter of 2022 will be approximately $70 million. The dollar value of our net orders decreased 88% year-over-year to $152.8 million due to an 88% decrease in net unit orders. Net unit orders were negatively impacted by the number of cancellations during the quarter, which more than doubled from the prior year to 1,270 cancellations. Given our build-to-order business model, we believe it is best to analyze cancellations as a percentage of beginning backlog.

正如拉里所指出的，我們已採取措施減少未來的一般和行政費用。我們已經看到我們的季度末員工人數比今年早些時候的峰值減少了 11%，並繼續評估其他節省成本的機會。我們目前估計 2022 年第四季度的一般和管理費用約為 7000 萬美元。由於淨單位訂單減少 88%，我們淨訂單的美元價值同比下降 88% 至 1.528 億美元。淨單位訂單受到本季度取消數量的負面影響，該數量比上一年增加了一倍多，達到 1,270 次。鑑於我們按訂單生產的業務模式，我們認為最好將取消量作為開始積壓的百分比進行分析。

In the third quarter of 2022, cancellations as a percentage of beginning backlog were 17.1% compared to the prior year quarter of 7.4% and our longer-term quarterly average over the past 10 years of 13.9%. In large part, the cancellations during the quarter were from orders that occurred prior to the run-up in mortgage rates with 59% of our third quarter cancellations coming from orders that occurred prior to March 31, 2022.

2022 年第三季度，取消訂單佔開始積壓訂單的百分比為 17.1%，而去年同期為 7.4%，我們過去 10 年的長期季度平均值為 13.9%。在很大程度上，本季度的取消訂單來自抵押貸款利率上升之前發生的訂單，我們第三季度的取消訂單中有 59% 來自 2022 年 3 月 31 日之前發生的訂單。

As David mentioned, we also saw a higher percentage of cancellations during the third quarter from buyers who could still afford to move forward with their purchase at higher rates. This type of buyer equated to approximately 43% of cancellations during the third quarter compared to 36% of cancellations during the quarter that were strictly due to the buyer no longer qualifying for a mortgage. In contrast, during the second quarter, the greatest percentage of cancellations was attributable to those who no longer qualified for a mortgage. Before cancellations, our gross order activity for the third quarter was down 47% year-over-year and 30% from the second quarter of 2022. About 50% of our third quarter gross order activity was spec inventory.

正如大衛所說，我們還看到第三季度取消訂單的比例更高，這些買家仍然有能力以更高的價格繼續購買。這種類型的買家在第三季度取消了大約 43% 的訂單，而第三季度的取消訂單中有 36% 完全是由於買家不再有資格獲得抵押貸款。相比之下，在第二季度，取消抵押貸款的比例最大的是那些不再有資格獲得抵押貸款的人。在取消之前，我們第三季度的總訂單活動同比下降了 47%，比 2022 年第二季度下降了 30%。我們第三季度的總訂單活動中約有 50% 是規格庫存。

Looking at the monthly cadence of activity, each month of the third quarter saw fewer gross orders and more cancellations than the month before, with September having the lowest number of gross orders and the highest number of cancellations for the quarter. With a few days to go, the number of gross orders and cancellations for October seem like they will be similar to the numbers we recorded in September. Looking at our average sales price of new orders, we analyzed this metric on a gross basis given the magnitude and mix of cancellation activity during the quarter.

從每月的活動節奏來看，第三季度每個月的總訂單量都比前一個月減少，取消的次數更多，其中 9 月份的總訂單量最低，而本季度的取消量最高。再過幾天，10 月份的總訂單和取消數量似乎與我們在 9 月份記錄的數字相似。查看我們新訂單的平均銷售價格，考慮到本季度取消活動的規模和組合，我們對這一指標進行了總體分析。

On a gross order basis, our average sales price of new orders increased approximately 4% as compared to the prior year and decreased approximately 5% as compared to the second quarter of this year. The decrease in our average selling price from the second quarter of 2022 was due to an increase in incentives as well as a decrease in base pricing for certain communities. Our active subdivision count was at 220 to end the quarter, up 8% from 203 a year ago. This increase was driven entirely by our West segment with our East and Mountain segments both experiencing year-over-year decreases. Our Arizona and California markets saw the largest year-over-year increase in community count, adding a total of 22 net new active communities. We expect our active community count to continue to increase through the remainder of the year and into the 2023 spring selling season.

按訂單總額計算，我們新訂單的平均銷售價格較去年同期上漲約 4%，較今年第二季度下降約 5%。自 2022 年第二季度以來，我們的平均售價下降是由於激勵措施的增加以及某些社區的基本價格下降。截至本季度末，我們的活躍細分數量為 220 個，比一年前的 203 個增加了 8%。這一增長完全是由我們的西部部分推動的，我們的東部和山區部分都經歷了同比下降。我們的亞利桑那州和加利福尼亞市場的社區數量同比增幅最大，總共新增了 22 個淨活躍社區。我們預計我們的活躍社區數量將在今年剩餘時間內繼續增加，直至 2023 年春季銷售旺季。

We acquired 447 lots during the quarter, resulting in total land acquisition spend of $74 million, down 73% from $273 million in the 2021 third quarter. We also had $169 million of land development spend during the 2022 third quarter, up modestly from $147 million in the same quarter last year. We incurred $11.8 million of project abandonment charges, largely resulting from nonrefundable deposits on land transactions that were no longer viable in the current market. This charge is in addition to the $15.5 million of project abandonment charges recognized in the second quarter.

我們在本季度收購了 447 塊土地，總土地收購支出為 7400 萬美元，比 2021 年第三季度的 2.73 億美元下降 73%。在 2022 年第三季度，我們還有 1.69 億美元的土地開發支出，略高於去年同期的 1.47 億美元。我們產生了 1180 萬美元的項目放棄費用，主要是由於土地交易的不可退還押金在當前市場上不再可行。該費用是在第二季度確認的 1550 萬美元的項目放棄費用之外的費用。

As of quarter end, we had $24.1 million in cash deposits and $5.9 million in letters of credit at risk associated with the 5,364 lots currently under option. During the third quarter, we approved just one new land deal with 12 lots for acquisition. This minimal activity, coupled with a number of projects abandoned over the last 6 months resulted in a 20% year-over-year decrease in our controlled lot supply to 29,256 lots. However, we believe the supply is sufficient to meet our operating needs for several years, consistent with our philosophy of maintaining a 2- to 3-year supply of land. With lower land acquisition activities so far this year, operating cash flow has increased to $344 million for the first 9 months of 2022 compared with $86.5 million of cash used to fund operating activities for the first 9 months of 2021.

截至季度末，我們有 2410 萬美元的現金存款和 590 萬美元的信用證與目前處於選擇權的 5,364 手相關的風險。在第三季度，我們僅批准了一項新的土地交易，包括 12 塊土地進行收購。這種最小的活動，再加上過去 6 個月放棄的一些項目，導致我們控制的地塊供應量同比減少 20%，至 29,256 塊。然而，我們認為供應足以滿足我們幾年的經營需求，這與我們維持 2 至 3 年土地供應的理念一致。由於今年迄今為止徵地活動減少，2022 年前 9 個月的經營現金流已增加到 3.44 億美元，而 2021 年前 9 個月用於為經營活動提供資金的現金為 8650 萬美元。

With cash balances increasing during the quarter, we purchased approximately $292 million of U.S. treasury securities during the third quarter. These marketable securities have enhanced our yield but are of a short duration with initial maturities upon purchase of 6 months or less. Our work in process inventory has decreased $152 million from its peak at the end of the second quarter this year despite an increase in our overall speculative inventory. As of September 30, we had 1,082 spec units, of which only 187 units were complete. We ended the quarter with total liquidity of $1.89 billion with no senior note maturities until 2030 and a book value per share of $42.23.

隨著本季度現金餘額的增加，我們在第三季度購買了約 2.92 億美元的美國國債。這些有價證券提高了我們的收益率，但期限較短，初始到期時間為 6 個月或更短。儘管我們的整體投機庫存增加，但我們的在製品庫存比今年第二季度末的峰值減少了 1.52 億美元。截至 9 月 30 日，我們有 1,082 個規格單元，其中只有 187 個單元是完整的。截至本季度末，我們的總流動性為 18.9 億美元，到 2030 年之前沒有優先票據到期，每股賬面價值為 42.23 美元。

In summary, while we remain confident in the long-term growth prospects for the industry, given the underproduction of new homes over the past decade, the demand for new homes is likely to continue to experience headwinds in the near term. As I mentioned last quarter, our financial position and cash flow will remain a key focus for us, especially as the economic picture remains unclear. Delivering homes in backlog during the fourth quarter will be key to the continued improvement to balance sheet and cash flow metrics.

總而言之，儘管我們對行業的長期增長前景仍然充滿信心，但鑑於過去十年新房生產不足，新房需求在短期內可能會繼續遭遇逆風。正如我上個季度提到的，我們的財務狀況和現金流仍將是我們關注的重點，尤其是在經濟形勢仍不明朗的情況下。在第四季度交付積壓的房屋將是持續改善資產負債表和現金流指標的關鍵。

Furthermore, as uncertainty in the market persists, we believe that our strong balance sheet and liquidity will put us in a position to pursue new land transactions with better terms and/or better pricing than has been recently available, which could be a great opportunity for our company. Our strong financial position also supports the continued payment of our quarterly dividend, which was again approved by our Board at the $0.50 per share level this week, continuing our long established record of consistent or increasing dividend payments dating back to 1994. That concludes our prepared remarks. We will now open up the line for questions.

此外，由於市場的不確定性持續存在，我們相信我們強大的資產負債表和流動性將使我們能夠以比最近更好的條款和/或更好的價格進行新的土地交易，這可能是一個很好的機會我們公司。我們強勁的財務狀況還支持我們繼續支付季度股息，本週我們的董事會再次以每股 0.50 美元的水平批准了該股息，延續了自 1994 年以來我們長期建立的持續或增加股息支付的記錄。這結束了我們準備的評論。我們現在將打開問題線。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Today's first question comes from Stephen Kim of Evercore ISI.

謝謝你。 （操作員說明）今天的第一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Stephen Kim。

Bob, just a housekeeping item. Do you have the inventory breakout, the housing completed and under construction versus the land and land inventory? If you-- land and land under development, if you have those, that would be helpful. But I wanted to -- why if you're looking that up, I also wanted to ask you about what percent of your backlog is rate locked at this point? And what was that in at the end of 2Q?

鮑勃，只是一個家務用品。您是否有庫存突破、已完工和在建房屋與土地和土地庫存？如果你有土地和正在開發的土地，如果你有這些，那將很有幫助。但我想 - 如果您正在查找，為什麼我還想問您，此時您的積壓工作有多少百分比是速率鎖定的？第二季度末那是什麼？

I think rate locked for Q4 specifically, we're probably right around 50%. And I guess overall, we're probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 40%. The prior quarter, I'll have to check on this, Steve, but I think it was closer to 30% overall.

我認為特別是第四季度的鎖定率，我們可能在 50% 左右。我想總體而言，我們可能在 40% 左右。上一季度，我必須檢查一下，史蒂夫，但我認為總體上接近 30%。

And why wouldn't those numbers -- why wouldn't you proactively seek to get those numbers higher? Because it seems like with all the volatility and with the uncertainty in the market, that might be an effective way to sort of mitigate the effects of cancellations. And then also, you mentioned a lot of the cancellations were sort of psychological and you backed that up with some of the --with some of your commentary. Are you -- in those situations, are you keeping the deposit and that the earnest money these folks have put down? And we've noticed that your earnest money percentage is kind of on the low side, and we are wondering whether you're actually looking to take more earnest money. These are things that could theoretically mitigate your cancellation experience. I'm just wondering if you're pulling some of these levers.

為什麼這些數字不——你為什麼不主動尋求讓這些數字更高呢？因為似乎存在所有波動性和市場的不確定性，這可能是一種減輕取消影響的有效方法。然後，你提到很多取消都是出於心理原因，你用一些評論來支持這一點。你——在那種情況下，你是否保留了押金和這些人已經放下的定金？而且我們注意到您的定金百分比有點偏低，我們想知道您是否真的希望獲得更多的定金。這些在理論上可以減輕您的取消體驗。我只是想知道你是否正在拉動其中的一些槓桿。

Yes. So a couple of things I'll try to answer as much as I can remember. So first of all, just speaking to the interest rate lock situation. I was speaking as of September 30. And I would say, certainly, on the interest rate lock side of things, we're focused on the ones that are closing the quickest, the ones that have the quickest cash flow, so we're locking those in at least a quarter ahead. We also have longer-term lock programs available for consumers if they are interested in that. But the main priority is try to lock folks in that we're going to close within the coming quarter. That's one.

是的。所以有幾件事我會盡量回答我能記住的。所以首先，只談利率鎖定的情況。我是在 9 月 30 日發表講話的。我會說，當然，在利率鎖定方面，我們專注於那些收盤速度最快的公司，那些現金流最快的公司，所以我們是至少提前四分之一鎖定那些。如果消費者對此感興趣，我們還為消費者提供長期鎖定計劃。但主要優先事項是試圖鎖定人們，我們將在下一季度關閉。那是一個。

2, your housekeeping item. I think you were just asking about the split between WIP and land and that is in our release, it's $2.2 billion on WIP and $1.8 billion on the land account for a total of $4 billion of inventory. In terms of the other items, the other thing I heard of was the deposit policy, we feel pretty comfortable about our deposit policy. But much like everything else in a changing market, we have reviewed that. We have made changes to that policy, and we continue to make some changes to that policy. So it's a bit of a balance because we want to make sure our backlog is secure. Then again, we want to make sure that buyers are still comfortable entering into new contracts as well. And of course, we're looking at what the rest of the market is doing. So certainly, we're very focused on reviewing a lot of our practices as we continue to operate through a very volatile market.

2、你的家務項目。我認為您只是在詢問 WIP 和土地之間的分割，這在我們的發布中，WIP 為 22 億美元，土地為 18 億美元，總庫存為 40 億美元。至於其他方面，我聽說的另一件事是存款政策，我們對我們的存款政策感到非常滿意。但就像瞬息萬變的市場中的其他一切一樣，我們已經對此進行了審查。我們已對該政策進行了更改，並且我們將繼續對該政策進行一些更改。所以這有點平衡，因為我們想確保我們的積壓工作是安全的。再說一次，我們要確保買家仍然願意簽訂新合同。當然，我們正在研究其他市場在做什麼。因此，當然，我們非常專注於審查我們的許多做法，因為我們繼續在一個非常動蕩的市場中運營。

And then lastly for me, is how many of your net sales, would you say were direct sales versus spec sales in the quarter?

最後對我來說，你的淨銷售額有多少，你會說是本季度的直接銷售還是規格銷售？

I'm not sure if we split out the net gross growth, it's about 50% I guess, 50% gross direct net, maybe 60%, it's a little bit less meaningful on the net basis. But on a gross basis, it's about 50%, which is up from where it was in Q2 and of course, a year ago in the third quarter.

我不確定我們是否將淨總增長分開，我猜大概是 50%，50% 的直接淨額，也許是 60%，這在淨額基礎上意義不大。但總體而言，它約為 50%，高於第二季度的水平，當然還有一年前的第三季度。

So the gross sales, you're saying 50% of your gross sales were dirt sales and that, that share of gross sales being direct sales is higher than it was before.

所以總銷售額，你說你的總銷售額的 50% 是垃圾銷售，而直接銷售在總銷售額中的份額比以前要高。

No, the percentage of spec sales.

不，規格銷售的百分比。

And our next question today comes from Truman Patterson of Wolfe Research.

我們今天的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Truman Patterson。

First, I was just hoping on the $28 million inventory impairment charge. -- hoping you could give some color there. Was it concentrated to a single land deal or multiple communities. I'm also hoping you can give color, was it related to a specific metro or region as well as kind of the vintage of when that land was bought?

首先，我只是希望獲得 2800 萬美元的庫存減值費用。 - 希望你能在那裡給一些顏色。它是集中在一個土地交易還是多個社區。我也希望你能提供顏色，它是否與特定的地鐵或地區以及購買該土地時的年份有關？

Yes. It's a bit of a mixed bag on all fronts. I think overall, it was 9 different communities, as we said on the call, 2 in the East, 7 in the West. The 2 in the East, we're in Pennsylvania, it's actually a newer area that we are operating in. So in that case, it was an area where we encountered some unexpected costs. So that one is a different animal out there. But those 2 were in Pennsylvania. If you look out West, the biggest areas for the impairments was Phoenix and Southern California. Then we kind of had a little smattering elsewhere we had one in Vegas, for example.

是的。這在所有方面都有點好壞參半。我認為總的來說，有 9 個不同的社區，正如我們在電話會議上所說的那樣，東部有 2 個，西部有 7 個。東部的 2，我們在賓夕法尼亞州，它實際上是我們經營的一個較新的地區。所以在那種情況下，這是一個我們遇到了一些意想不到的成本的地區。所以那是一種不同的動物。但那兩個在賓夕法尼亞州。如果你看看西部，最大的障礙區域是鳳凰城和南加州。然後我們在其他地方有點了解，例如在維加斯有一個。

So naturally, in this environment, we're still at pretty high levels of cost overall. And of course, we're dealing with higher levels of incentives. So that tripped a couple of triggers in a few areas. So we did the analysis, and that's the number that we came up with. So we made sure we we're very thorough in that analysis, and we really used today's assumptions with what's going on. So that's the SCOOP vintage. Again, it was different vintages. I don't have kind of one specific time to point to, but different periods of time that those were originally contracted.

所以很自然，在這種環境下，我們的總體成本仍然很高。當然，我們正在處理更高水平的激勵措施。所以這觸發了幾個領域的幾個觸發器。所以我們做了分析，這就是我們想出的數字。因此，我們確保我們在分析中非常徹底，並且我們確實使用了今天的假設來處理正在發生的事情。這就是 SCOOP 年份。同樣，這是不同的年份。我沒有一個具體的時間可以指出，但是那些最初簽約的不同時期。

Okay. Okay. Thanks for that Bob. And then Bob, I heard you give commentary earlier about the level of incentives in your closing. I'm hoping you could just give where third quarter order incentives or base price cuts kind of combined, might have been for the third quarter? And what kind of the exit rate was in September, October time period?

好的。好的。謝謝那個鮑勃。然後鮑勃，我聽說你早些時候就結束時的激勵水平發表了評論。我希望你能給出第三季度的訂單激勵或基本降價的組合，可能是第三季度的？ 9 月、10 月時間段的退出率是多少？

Sure. So as far as incentives go, I think for sales for the quarter overall, we were about 7%, but I think they were trending up towards 8% as we got to the end of the quarter. As we looked at base price decreases, hang with me for one second so I can get you a more exact number, Derek, what page is that?

當然。因此，就激勵措施而言，我認為整個季度的銷售額約為 7%，但我認為隨著我們到本季度末，它們趨向於 8%。當我們看到基本價格下降時，請和我等一秒鐘，這樣我可以給你一個更準確的數字，德里克，那是哪一頁？

Base price decreases were pretty small relative that range.

相對於該範圍，基本價格下跌幅度很小。

It was, I think, 1% or 2% overall kind of a relatively dominos number relative to the incentives. But I can get that exact yes.

我認為，相對於激勵措施，總體而言，1% 或 2% 是一個相對多米諾骨牌的數字。但我可以得到確切的答案。

Okay. Perfect. Thanks for that Bob. And then just one final for me whenever we're thinking through the level of incentives. Are there any markets, metros, regions to call out where you're seeing a relatively elevated level in any way you could put some numbers behind that?

好的。完美的。謝謝那個鮑勃。然後，每當我們考慮激勵水平時，對我來說只有一場決賽。是否有任何市場、地鐵、地區可以指出您認為水平相對較高的地方，您可以在其中添加一些數字嗎？

In terms of price decreases.

在降價方面。

Yes. Just the level of order in sales.

是的。只是銷售中的訂單水平。

Probably -- the -- you're getting some in most markets, some of the outer lying areas of Phoenix might be a little bit more elevated relative to those numbers. I don't have an exact percentage for you, but that's one that I would call out.

可能 - 你在大多數市場上都得到了一些，鳳凰城的一些外圍地區相對於這些數字可能會更高一些。我沒有確切的百分比給你，但這是我要說的。

Okay. All right. Good luck in the coming quarter. Thank you all for your time and good luck in your coming quarter.

好的。好的。祝下個季度好運。感謝大家在下一個季度的時間和好運。

Thank you.

謝謝你。

And our next question today comes from Michael Rehaut with JPMorgan.

我們今天的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Michael Rehaut。

This is Andrew Azzi, on for Mike. I just wanted to ask, was there -- could you kind of give any more color around build cycle times? Any relief that you see in the future? I know you spoke to Q4, not really materially improving. Any more detail there?

我是 Andrew Azzi，代表 Mike。我只是想問一下，有沒有 - 你能在構建週期時間上提供更多的顏色嗎？你在未來看到任何緩解嗎？我知道你談到了第四季度，並沒有真正改善。那裡有更詳細的嗎？

I mean we're at, I think, 303 days on the houses that closed during the third quarter, and that's a sale to close, including the time and the front end before we start the house. And we expect it's going to be at that level or maybe even a little bit more than that in Q4. So in terms of the actual period of construction from the time we start the house to the time we finish, I don't know that we've seen a ton of relief there yet, but we expect there could be some opportunity for that in 2023, simply because there's going to be less houses started less working through the pipeline.

我的意思是，我認為，在第三季度關閉的房屋上，我們處於 303 天，這是一筆交易，包括我們開始建造房屋之前的時間和前端。我們預計它會達到這個水平，甚至可能比第四季度的水平高一點。因此，就從我們開始建造房屋到完工的實際施工期而言，我不知道我們在那裡看到了很多緩解，但我們預計可能會有一些機會到 2023 年，僅僅是因為通過管道開始工作的房屋將減少。

I think the finished trades are still plenty busy. So we haven't really seen any relief there yet. So I'm hesitant to put any quantification on it at this point other than to say before, we went through this period of time, we were just under 200 as our sale to close cycle times. And this is on dirt sale houses, I should say. So that's been the recent low. Certainly not saying we can necessarily get there in 2023, but we have been in the past at much lower levels in terms of cycle time.

我認為已完成的交易仍然很忙。所以我們還沒有真正看到那裡有任何緩解。所以我現在猶豫要不要對它進行任何量化，除了之前說的，我們經歷了這段時間，我們的銷售量不到 200 美元，以關閉週期時間。我應該說，這是在泥土出售的房子上。所以這是最近的低點。當然不是說我們一定能在 2023 年實現這一目標，但我們過去在周期時間方面的水平要低得多。

And then I think in the prepared remarks, I heard you guys saying something about cost-cutting initiatives, I wanted to see if you could expand on that at all.

然後我想在準備好的評論中，我聽到你們談到了削減成本的舉措，我想看看你們是否可以進一步擴展。

Yes. I think from our peak in terms of headcount, we're down about 11%. And that includes -- that does as of the end of the quarter, that includes some attrition where folks left and we didn't replace the position. And then a couple of situations where we reduced our staff more proactively.

是的。我認為從員工人數的高峰期開始，我們下降了約 11%。這包括 - 截至本季度末，這包括人們離開的一些人員流失，而我們沒有更換該職位。然後是一些我們更主動地減少員工的情況。

And then one more for me. Is there any change in the go-to-market strategy? Are you any less focused on entry level? Or any color there?

然後再給我一個。進入市場的策略有什麼變化嗎？您是否不太關注入門級？或者那裡有什麼顏色？

We've got a pretty good spectrum of products. I would say we're still a bit more focused on the affordable realm much as we have been over the course of the past few years.

我們有相當不錯的產品系列。我想說的是，我們仍然更加關注可負擔領域，就像我們在過去幾年中所做的那樣。

And our next question today comes from Alan Ratner with Zelman & Associates.

我們今天的下一個問題來自 Zelman & Associates 的 Alan Ratner。

First, revisiting the impairments for a second, Bob, do you happen to know, I guess, probably more relevant to the active communities, what type of net price adjustment triggered those impairments? You mentioned the incentives company-wide, but I'm guessing those communities might have been a bit larger. And do you have an updated figure in terms of a watch list in terms of communities that might not have been impaired this quarter, but might have shown some potential indicators of impairment. I believe that's a figure that you and others used to disclose the heck in the day, and I'm guessing might be disclosed going forward here?

首先，重新審視一下減值，Bob，你是否碰巧知道，我猜，可能與活躍社區更相關，什麼類型的淨價格調整觸發了這些減值？你提到了全公司的激勵措施，但我猜這些社區可能會更大一些。您是否有關於本季度可能沒有受到損害但可能已經顯示出一些潛在損害指標的社區的觀察名單的更新數據。我相信這是你和其他人用來在當天披露的數字，我猜可能會在這裡披露？

Yes. I don't have a watch list for you. I will say, clearly, in this market, if we see more deterioration, we're going to be doing the same impairment analysis at the end of the quarter. So impairments are always possible in the way of changing industry conditions. So we'll continue to do the impairment analysis every quarter and report back. In terms of the magnitude, each asset, I think, is different in terms of what drove it.

是的。我沒有你的觀察名單。我要明確地說，在這個市場上，如果我們看到更多惡化，我們將在本季度末進行相同的減值分析。因此，在不斷變化的行業條件下，損害總是可能的。因此，我們將繼續每季度進行減值分析並進行報告。就規模而言，我認為每項資產的驅動力都不同。

In some cases, I mentioned there was a couple of communities where the community wasn't even open yet. And we see the direct comps, maybe those selling spec inventory showing decreases of pretty big significance. Whether or not that is just clear the spec inventory for their current fiscal year or if it's a longer-term trend, it's hard to say whether or not the prices are going to stick at that point. But we can only kind of deal with the facts and circumstances that we have at the time when we're looking at those impairments. So we took the information that was available and made the calculation.

在某些情況下，我提到有幾個社區甚至還沒有開放。而且我們看到直接組合，也許那些銷售規格庫存的人顯示出相當大的減少。無論這是否只是清除了他們當前財政年度的規格庫存，還是這是一個長期趨勢，都很難說價格是否會保持在那個時候。但我們只能處理我們在查看這些損傷時所擁有的事實和情況。因此，我們獲取了可用的信息並進行了計算。

That's helpful, Bob. Second question on cancellations, obviously, have been increasing across the industry. You mentioned that your priority is kind of closing the backlog that you have in place and making sure that as many of those homes get to the finish line as possible. Your rate was a bit higher than the group average, at least what we've seen so far as a percentage of backlog.

這很有幫助，鮑勃。顯然，關於取消的第二個問題在整個行業中一直在增加。您提到您的首要任務是關閉您現有的積壓工作，並確保盡可能多的這些房屋到達終點線。你的比率略高於組平均水平，至少我們目前看到的積壓百分比是這樣的。

So I'm curious when you think about the equation of whether you offer incentives to buyers in backlog or discount the price further in order to keep those buyers in place versus kind of letting them walk because you did mention a good chunk of that could still afford to move forward? It sounds like it was more of a confidence/pricing decision there. Where do you draw the line? And what type of results have you had where you can point to reselling some of those canceled units? What is the margin and price difference look like compared to what it was originally in backlog for?

因此，當您考慮是否向積壓的買家提供獎勵或進一步打折以使這些買家留在原地而不是讓他們走的等式時，我很好奇，因為您確實提到了其中很大一部分仍然可以有能力前進嗎？聽起來這更像是一個信心/定價決定。你在哪裡畫線？您有什麼類型的結果可以指出轉售其中一些取消的單位？與最初的積壓相比，利潤和價格差異是多少？

I mean I think the most important thing is that we're communicating with those buyers that are canceling and at least get taken a shot at seeing if we can keep them -- so I think we've even gone to the point where we want our division presidents to have conversations with every one of those consumers, whereas in the past, we may have just had the sales manager or someone else have that conversation. So it's a really skilled group we have of division managers out there. They're having those conversations, and they're making a business decision, and we've got a lot of tools out there for them to use.

我的意思是我認為最重要的是我們正在與那些正在取消的買家進行溝通，並且至少可以嘗試看看我們是否可以保留它們 - 所以我認為我們甚至已經達到了我們想要的地步我們的部門總裁與每一位消費者進行對話，而在過去，我們可能只是讓銷售經理或其他人進行對話。因此，我們擁有一支由部門經理組成的非常熟練的團隊。他們正在進行這些對話，他們正在做出商業決策，我們有很多工具可供他們使用。

We've got the interest rate locks at below current market prices, which are great. In some cases, it's an increased incentive or something else. But in a lot of cases, it just comes down to payment. And to the point on those who still can afford it, in a lot of cases, they're just a little bit concerned in this market, and there's really not much we can do to bring them back. But we certainly keep that relationship fresh and try again when maybe things settle down a little bit. In terms of resale of specs, I would say we've had a pretty good record on that. You heard the 50% number in terms of our overall gross orders that related to specs. That's a recent high for us, and we can certainly see that there's some demand out there. When somebody gets that certainty of I can get to the house relatively quickly, and I know what my payment is. So I think our management teams have done a great job of getting those resold.

我們將利率鎖定在低於當前市場價格，這很棒。在某些情況下，這是一種增加的激勵或其他東西。但在很多情況下，它只是歸結為付款。對於那些仍然負擔得起的人來說，在很多情況下，他們只是對這個市場有點擔心，我們真的無能為力把他們帶回來。但我們當然會保持這種關係的新鮮感，並在事情稍微穩定下來時再試一次。在規格的轉售方面，我想說我們在這方面有很好的記錄。就我們與規格相關的總訂單而言，您聽說了 50% 的數字。這對我們來說是最近的高點，我們當然可以看到那裡有一些需求。當有人確定我可以相對較快地到達房子時，我知道我的付款是多少。所以我認為我們的管理團隊在讓這些轉售方面做得很好。

And just on that point, Bob, so in the event where you are reselling it and you look at the price you've achieved, does that inform any decisions going forward perhaps in terms of maybe-- are you coming in lower than you would have if you would have maybe met the bidder or the buyer's price that was in backlog? Or is it a situation where you're -- you feel like you're getting a better price than you would have if you had to kind of discount to keep that original buyer in place?

就在這一點上，鮑勃，所以如果你轉售它並且你看看你已經達到的價格，這是否會為未來的任何決定提供信息，也許是 - 你的價格是否低於你的價格？如果您可能會遇到積壓的投標人或買方的價格？或者是你的情況——你覺得你得到的價格比你必須打折以保持原來的買家就位時得到的價格更好？

I think our division managers are well aware of what the current trade is, what the current house pricing is and how that relates to the buyer that's already in backlog. So I would say they're doing a good job of kind of managing against what they think they could get post cancellation versus what they can get before it cancels. So they're taking all that into account.

我認為我們的部門經理很清楚當前的交易是什麼，當前的房價是多少，以及這與已經積壓的買家有什麼關係。所以我想說他們在管理他們認為取消後可以獲得的內容與取消之前可以獲得的內容方面做得很好。所以他們正在考慮所有這些。

Got it. Okay. I know it's a tough equation to figure out here. So I appreciate the thoughts.

知道了。好的。我知道這裡很難弄清楚。所以我很欣賞這些想法。

Sure.

當然。

And our next question comes from Alex Baron with Housing Research Center.

我們的下一個問題來自住房研究中心的 Alex Baron。

Bob, I wanted to ask, I think I heard the markets involved in the impairments, but how many communities got impaired this quarter? And what's roughly the thing that triggered the impairment? Is it the gross margin or the operating margin? Like what is it that trigger that?

Bob，我想問一下，我想我聽說了涉及減值的市場，但是本季度有多少社區受到了減值？觸發損傷的大致原因是什麼？是毛利率還是營業利潤率？比如是什麼觸發了它？

It was 9 communities. And it's really the operating margin that you have to look at. And once you go negative, so if you go 1 negative unexpected cash flow on an undiscounted basis, then you trigger an impairment and you did discounting the cash flows and that's what determines what it is. But really, it's on the operating level within that one community, I should say.

這是9個社區。這確實是您必須查看的營業利潤率。一旦你變成負數，所以如果你在未貼現的基礎上出現 1 個負的意外現金流，那麼你就會觸發減值並且你確實對現金流進行了貼現，這就是決定它是什麼的原因。但實際上，我應該說，這是在那個社區的運營層面。

Got it. And also, I'm not sure if I missed it or if you didn't give. Do you happen to have the number of starts in the quarter? And philosophically speaking, how are you guys thinking about spec starts going forward? I know in the past few years, you guys have been inclined to go towards build-to-order model, but some other builders are saying that there's more demand for homes that can close within 30 to 90 days. So I'm wondering if that's changing your perspective on that.

知道了。而且，我不確定我是錯過了還是你沒有給。你碰巧有這個季度的開始次數嗎？從哲學上講，你們如何看待規範開始向前發展？我知道在過去的幾年裡，你們一直傾向於採用按訂單建造的模式，但其他一些建築商表示，對可以在 30 到 90 天內關閉的房屋的需求更大。所以我想知道這是否會改變你對此的看法。

Yes. I think those are good questions. With regard to the spec start philosophy, we haven't changed anything at this point. I will say we have generated a lot of great cash flow. And when you're in a good balance sheet position, it gives you the optionality to smart specs, for example, if you really need to, if conditions warrant. So that's something that we'll continue to evaluate. But we still want to be a place where a buyer can come for a build to order a house too. So it's a balance, and we'll continue to kind of assess that as we go. As we look at just what happened in terms of starts during the quarter, I think we're at right around 910 was the number for the quarter.

是的。我認為這些都是很好的問題。關於規範啟動理念，我們目前還沒有改變任何東西。我會說我們已經產生了大量的現金流。當您處於良好的資產負債表位置時，它為您提供智能規格的選擇權，例如，如果您真的需要，如果條件允許。所以這是我們將繼續評估的東西。但我們仍然希望成為一個買家也可以來建造訂購房屋的地方。所以這是一個平衡，我們將繼續評估這一點。當我們查看本季度開始時發生的情況時，我認為我們正好在本季度的數字 910 左右。

Got it. Okay. And in terms of, again, what's triggering this impairment, is it just mainly like you said, newer communities and you're looking at comps? Or are you actually cutting prices on existing homes that's getting some of these communities there?

知道了。好的。再說一次，是什麼觸發了這種損害，主要是像你說的那樣，新社區，你正在尋找補償嗎？還是您實際上是在降低現有房屋的價格，從而使其中一些社區在那裡？

Some of it is newer communities, but some of it is older communities that just had higher costs. I mentioned the example of a couple in Pennsylvania in the area we hadn't operated much in before where we have some unexpected costs that we were hit with -- so it's different things for different communities. Certainly, in some cases, it was directly related to the fact that there is some discounting going on out there, whether that's us or a competitor. We take that into account and run it through the cash flows.

其中一些是較新的社區，但其中一些是成本較高的舊社區。我提到了賓夕法尼亞州一對夫婦的例子，在我們之前沒有太多經營過的地區，我們遇到了一些意想不到的成本——所以對於不同的社區來說這是不同的事情。當然，在某些情況下，這與存在一些折扣的事實直接相關，無論是我們還是競爭對手。我們考慮到這一點，並通過現金流來運行它。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Jay McCanless with Wedbush Securities.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Wedbush Securities 的 Jay McCanless。

I guess the first ne, or the majority of the cancellations in the core customer driven? Or did you guys decide to proactively cancel out some people that you thought might not get to the finish line?

我猜是第一個ne，還是核心客戶驅動的大多數取消？還是你們決定主動取消一些你認為可能無法到達終點的人？

Yes. I guess it's a combination because we are coming through our backlog constantly. And if we find a buyer who we just don't think is going to make it, we'll have that conversation proactively. But as I mentioned earlier, and David hit on it as well, we saw more that were in that remorse category. So that's more where the bio proactively comes back to us. And so you know what, they really just didn't want to proceed at this point. So a mixed bag, #1 being that remorse category #2 being financing.

是的。我想這是一個組合，因為我們不斷地處理我們的積壓工作。如果我們找到一個我們認為不會成功的買家，我們會主動進行對話。但正如我之前提到的，大衛也提到了這一點，我們看到了更多屬於悔恨的類別。所以這更多的是生物主動回到我們身邊的地方。所以你知道嗎，他們真的只是不想在這一點上繼續。所以好壞參半，#1 是悔恨類別 #2 是融資。

And so if the vintage of the cancellations were people who had signed, I think you said, Bob, before March 31, and you're on a 300-day cycle, -- does that suggest that closings from 4Q '22 to 1Q '23 are going to take a steeper drop than normal just because of that gap you have?

因此，如果取消的年份是已經簽署的人，我想你說，鮑勃，在 3 月 31 日之前，並且你處於 300 天的周期中，這是否表明從 22 年第四季度到第一季度的關閉23 會因為你有這個差距而比正常下降得更厲害嗎？

4Q, do you say 4Q 2022?

4Q，你說的是 2022 年的 4Q 嗎？

'22 into 1Q '23? Just trying to think about what the volume ramifications look like on that?

'22 到 23 年第一季度？只是想考慮一下音量的影響是什麼？

I mean we put out our 2,200 to 2,500 million range on closings for Q4. So that's your best information for there. We haven't put out any guidance for Q1. But I will say when you do get a cancellation, and it dates back to Q1 or Q4 of last year, of course, that means you've got a spec that you can potentially sell and close within the quarter or maybe even into Q1. So a lot of those units will be additive to future periods even if we had to cancel them in the current period.

我的意思是，我們在第四季度的收盤時推出了 2,200 到 25 億的範圍。所以這是你最好的信息。我們沒有為第一季度發布任何指導。但是我會說，當您確實取消時，它可以追溯到去年的第一季度或第四季度，當然，這意味著您有一個可以在本季度甚至是第一季度出售和關閉的規格。因此，即使我們不得不在當前期間取消它們，其中很多單位也會添加到未來期間。

And then the last question I had. -- not to pick a part strategy, but when you said that the majority of openings this quarter were in Arizona and California, where those more entry-level, lower affordably priced or is this land that you had to go ahead and open because it seems like you're opening more communities in some of the tougher areas.

然後是我的最後一個問題。 - 不是選擇一個部分策略，但是當你說本季度的大部分開業都在亞利桑那州和加利福尼亞州時，那些更入門級，價格更低，或者你必須繼續開放的土地是因為它似乎您正在一些更艱難的地區開設更多社區。

I think we continue to open communities in a lot of our markets. Those 2 just stuck out as the ones that had the greatest increase in community count. In some cases, community count has gone up a little bit more than expected because the sales rate is a little bit lower, so you have fewer closeouts. So from a strategic standpoint, we've got a fairly limited supply of land. So I don't think we're of the mindset that we're just going to sit on communities. We're going to open them as they're ready and become available. And with the short land supply, we have the ability to convert the cash readily easily and then reinvest in the market later on when it makes sense. So that's really the strategy, and we'll continue to open communities as they ready to come online.

我認為我們會繼續在我們的許多市場中開放社區。那些 2 只是作為社區數量增加最多的那些。在某些情況下，社區數量的增長比預期的要多一些，因為銷售率有點低，所以你有更少的清倉。所以從戰略的角度來看，我們的土地供應相當有限。所以我不認為我們的心態是我們只會坐在社區上。我們將在它們準備就緒並可用時打開它們。由於土地供應短缺，我們有能力輕鬆轉換現金，然後在有意義的時候再投資於市場。所以這確實是策略，我們將繼續開放社區，因為他們準備好上線。

And our next question comes from David Stewart of Longfellow.

我們的下一個問題來自朗費羅的大衛斯圖爾特。

Thank you. A few months back, your firm filed is a rather substantial shelf registration. And you've emphasized certainly on this call and on prior conference calls, definitely, you have solid liquidity here. There's no pressing bond maturities, but I've always been kind of curious in terms of what the thought was behind that shelf filing. Were you taking a look at doing a potential acquisition at the time. And if my conspiracy theory is wrong, just kind of curious in terms of once this down cycle ends and they typically do, what your firm's viewpoint is on industry consolidation in the space? So overall, just more color on that would be great.

謝謝你。幾個月前，您的公司提交了相當大的貨架註冊。而且你在這次電話會議和之前的電話會議上肯定強調過，你肯定在這裡擁有穩定的流動性。沒有緊迫的債券到期，但我一直對貨架文件背後的想法感到好奇。您當時是否正在考慮進行潛在的收購。如果我的陰謀論是錯誤的，只是有點好奇，一旦這個下行週期結束並且他們通常會這樣做，那麼貴公司對該領域的行業整合有何看法？所以總的來說，只要有更多的顏色就好了。

Yes. I don't think there was any particular transactional activity anticipated when we did that shelf. There's really no kind of incremental work or that much cost involved with doing 5 versus 2 versus 1. So it was kind of one of those things where you might as well. But in terms of industry consolidation, that's not when I'm smart enough to figure out. I think there's been a lot of others out there who have been a lot more acquisitive than us, and there's nothing out there right now that I'm aware of that's cooking.

是的。我不認為我們做那個架子時預期會有任何特定的交易活動。做 5 對 2 對 1 真的沒有任何增量工作或涉及太多成本。所以這是你不妨做的事情之一。但就行業整合而言，這不是我聰明到能夠弄清楚的時候。我認為那裡有很多其他人比我們更貪婪，而且現在沒有什麼我知道那是烹飪。

Okay. But I mean, clearly, that's something that you would entertain, I mean, at some point, from a strategic perspective to take a look, I would figure.

好的。但我的意思是，很明顯，這是你會接受的東西，我的意思是，在某個時候，從戰略的角度來看，我想。

Well, I think any company, public company has to look at things as they come along and do what's in the best interest of the shareholders.

好吧，我認為任何公司，上市公司都必須在事情發生時考慮並做最符合股東利益的事情。

Good day, and ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the conference back over to the management team for any final remarks.

女士們，先生們，美好的一天，我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給管理團隊，以進行最後的評論。

We appreciate you being on the call today, and we look forward to speaking with you again after a year closes, and we jump on our Q4 earnings call.

我們感謝您今天參加電話會議，我們期待在一年結束後再次與您交談，我們跳上第四季度財報電話會議。

Thank you, everyone. This concludes today's conference call. We thank you all for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines, and have a wonderful day.

謝謝大家。今天的電話會議到此結束。我們感謝大家出席今天的演講。您現在可以斷開線路，度過美好的一天。