Meritage Homes Corp (MTH) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings. Welcome to the Meritage Homes third-quarter 2025 analyst call. (Operator Instructions) Please note that this conference is being recorded.

問候。歡迎參加 Meritage Homes 2025 年第三季分析師電話會議。（操作員說明）請注意，本次會議正在錄音。

I will now turn the conference over to Emily Tadano, VP of Investor Relations and External Communications. Thank you. You may begin.

現在我將把會議交給投資者關係和對外溝通副總裁艾米麗·塔達諾。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good morning and welcome to our analyst call to discuss our third-quarter 2025 results. We issued the press release yesterday after the market closed. You can find it along with the slides we'll refer to during this call on our website at investors.meritagehomes.com or by selecting the Investors Relations link at the bottom of our homepage.

謝謝接線生。早安，歡迎參加我們的分析師電話會議，我們將討論2025年第三季業績。我們在昨天股市收盤後發布了新聞稿。您可以在我們的網站 investors.meritagehomes.com 上找到它，以及我們將在本次電話會議中提到的幻燈片，或透過選擇我們主頁底部的「投資者關係」連結來找到它。

Please refer to slide 2, cautioning you that our statements during this call as well as in the earnings release and accompanying slides contain forward-looking statements. Those and any other projections represent the current opinions of management, which are subject to change at any time, and we assume no obligation to update them.

請參考第 2 頁投影片，提醒您，我們在本次電話會議以及獲利報告和隨附投影片中的聲明包含前瞻性聲明。這些以及其他任何預測都代表了管理層目前的意見，這些意見隨時可能發生變化，我們不承擔更新這些預測的義務。

Any forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Our actual results may be materially different than our expectations due to a wide variety of risk factors which we have identified and listed on this slide as well as in our earnings release and most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q for subsequent quarters.

任何前瞻性陳述本身都具有不確定性。由於我們已識別並在此投影片、獲利報告以及最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件（特別是我們的 2024 年 10-K 表格年度報告和後續季度的 10-Q 表格）中列出的各種風險因素，我們的實際結果可能與預期有重大差異。

We've also provided a reconciliation of certain non-GAAP financial measures referred to in our earnings release as compared to their closest related GAAP measures. Share and per share amounts have been retroactively restated to reflect our January 2, 2025 stock split for all prior periods. With us today to discuss our results are Steve Hilton, Executive Chairman; Philippe Lord, CEO; and Hilla Sferruza, Executive Vice President and CFO of Meritage Homes. We expect today's call to last about an hour. A replay will be available on our website later today.

我們也提供了獲利報告中提到的某些非GAAP財務指標與其最接近的相關GAAP指標的調節表。股份數量和每股金額已追溯重述，以反映我們於 2025 年 1 月 2 日進行的股票拆分，適用於所有先前期間。今天與我們一起討論業績的有：Meritage Homes 執行董事長 Steve Hilton；執行長 Philippe Lord；以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Hilla Sferruza。我們預計今天的電話會議將持續約一個小時。今天晚些時候，我們的網站上將提供回放。

I'll now turn it over to Mr. Hilton. Steve?

現在我將把發言權交給希爾頓先生。史蒂夫？

Thank you, Emily. Welcome to everyone listening in on our call. Today I'll start by highlighting our third-quarter results and current market trends. We will cover how our strategy is creating a differentiation for us in the context of the evolving market conditions. We'll also cover our quarterly performance. Hilla will provide a financial overview of the quarter and forward-looking guidance.

謝謝你，艾米麗。歡迎各位收聽我們的通話。今天我將首先重點介紹我們第三季的業績和當前的市場趨勢。我們將探討在不斷變化的市場環境下，我們的策略如何為我們創造差異化優勢。我們還將介紹我們的季度業績。Hilla將提供本季的財務概覽和未來展望。

Market conditions were softer than initially expected in Q3, as consumer confidence continued to decline amid a tough economic backdrop and ongoing affordability concerns. Even with these headwinds, we grow our orders 4% year over year to 3,636 units on a greater community count and achieved an average absorption pace of 3.8%.

第三季市場狀況比最初預期要疲軟，因為在嚴峻的經濟情勢和持續的購買力擔憂下，消費者信心持續下降。即使面臨這些不利因素，我們的訂單量仍年增 4%，達到 3,636 套，社區數量也相應增加，平均消化速度達到 3.8%。

We leaned in on our strategy to focus on affordable move-in-ready homes and a 60-day closing-ready guarantee to provide homebuyers certainty in the changing environment. Our quick sale-to-close process contributed to another quarter with exceptional backlog conversions, with more than 60% of our orders in Q3 closing this quarter, generating a 211% backlog conversion rate this quarter on 3,685 home deliveries and home closing revenue of $1.4 billion.

我們堅持我們的策略，專注於價格適中、拎包入住的房屋，並提供 60 天交屋保證，為購屋者在不斷變化的環境中提供確定性。我們快速的銷售到成交流程促成了本季積壓訂單轉換率的顯著提升，第三季超過 60% 的訂單在本季完成成交，本季積壓訂單轉換率達到 211%，共完成 3,685 筆家庭交付，家庭成交收入達 14 億美元。

Excluding $14.5 million in combined real estate inventory impairments and terminated land deal charges, our adjusted gross margin and adjusted diluted EPS in the third quarter were in line with our guidance at 23.1% and $1.55, respectively. We also increased our book value per share 8% year-over-year.

在剔除 1,450 萬美元的房地產庫存減損和終止土地交易費用後，我們第三季的調整後毛利率和調整後攤薄每股收益分別與我們的預期一致，為 23.1% 和 1.55 美元。我們的每股帳面價值也較去年同期成長了 8%。

Q3 was the fifth consecutive quarter where we achieved year-over-year community count growth. We are starting to see the benefit of the high volume of land acquisition and development spend over the last few years and in the quarter with 334 communities, which was a 20% increase year over year. We continue to focus on balancing volume, profitability, and a solid balance sheet, and we are satisfied with the results this quarter considering the current economic environment.

第三季是我們連續第五個季度實現社區數量年增。我們開始看到過去幾年大量土地收購和開發支出的好處，本季共有 334 個社區，比去年同期成長了 20%。我們繼續專注於平衡銷售、獲利能力和穩健的資產負債表，考慮到當前的經濟環境，我們對本季的業績感到滿意。

And with that, I'll now turn it over to Philippe.

那麼，現在我將把麥克風交給菲利普。

Thank you, Steve. Starting at the macro level, we were encouraged by the Fed's rate cut in Q3. However, the recent trend in lower mortgage rates has not translated to a notable improvement in demand or a reduction in the use of incentives thus far due to the lack of consumer confidence. Throughout the quarter, our customers were feeling less optimistic about the economy, the cost of living, and employment, which increased hesitancy around a home purchase decision.

謝謝你，史蒂夫。從宏觀層面來看，聯準會第三季降息令我們感到鼓舞。然而，由於消費者信心不足，近期抵押貸款利率走低的趨勢迄今尚未轉化為需求的顯著改善或激勵措施的減少。整個季度，我們的客戶對經濟、生活成本和就業前景都感到不太樂觀，這加劇了他們在購屋決策上的猶豫。

We believe the biggest impediment to an improved housing market relates to buyer psychology. So this quarter, we continue to lean into our full range of possible incentives on a customer-by-customer basis. Even though we anticipate the incentive burden to continue running far north of where we typically are as an industry for the near future, we do expect the cost and utilization rate of incentives to begin to taper off as market conditions stabilize.

我們認為，阻礙房屋市場改善的最大障礙與購屋者的心理有關。因此，本季我們將繼續根據每位客戶的具體情況，充分發揮我們所有可能的激勵措施。儘管我們預計在不久的將來，激勵負擔仍將遠高於我們行業通常的水平，但我們預計隨著市場狀況的穩定，激勵措施的成本和利用率將開始逐漸下降。

We remain optimistic about the long-term outlook for the housing market, given favorable demographic trends in home buying and a long-standing undersupply of affordable homes in our price range. As we analyze our performance this period, we believe that our strategy differentiates us from our peers in a few ways.

鑑於購屋人口結構向好以及我們價格範圍內經濟適用房長期供應不足，我們對房屋市場的長期前景仍然保持樂觀。在分析我們這段時間的業績時，我們認為我們的策略在幾個方面使我們與同行區分開來。

First, our spec strategy, combined with a 60-day closing-ready guarantee, moving ready homes, and a focus on external realtor engagement enabled us to both compete for customers in a different way by providing them certainty and secure incremental sales orders and closings. Second, our 100% spec strategy and the significant improvements we have made in our cycle times over the past six quarters gives us the flexibility to ramp up or slow down our starts pace based on real-time local demand.

首先，我們的投機策略，加上 60 天即可交房的保證、可立即入住的房屋以及對外部房地產經紀人參與的重視，使我們能夠以不同的方式與客戶競爭，為他們提供確定性，並確保增加銷售訂單和交房量。其次，我們 100% 的規格策略以及過去六個季度我們在生產週期方面取得的顯著進步，使我們能夠根據即時的本地需求靈活地加快或減慢開工速度。

In the third quarter, we intentionally slowed our starts by 19% year over year to remain within our target range of four- to six-month supply specs on the ground while not impacting our sales velocity. Additionally, our scale and land pipeline enables us to reassess our land spend routinely based on market conditions while still maintaining our targeted level of lot supply.

第三季度，我們有意將開工量年減了 19%，以保持在四到六個月的現場供應規格目標範圍內，同時又不影響銷售速度。此外，我們的規模和土地儲備使我們能夠根據市場情況定期重新評估我們的土地支出，同時仍能維持我們目標的土地供應水準。

Through our ability to control land, we constantly review our control lots to determine if there are any future lots that we should renegotiate or walk away from. As such, we reduced the number of lots we acquired this quarter by about 5,800 lots, or 70% year over year, without sacrificing near-term community account growth.

憑藉我們對土地的控制能力，我們會不斷審查我們控制的地塊，以確定未來是否有任何地塊需要重新談判或放棄。因此，本季我們收購的地塊數量減少了約 5,800 塊，年比減少了 70%，但並未犧牲近期社區帳戶的成長。

With the current economic backdrop, we are evaluating these constant real-time adjustments as we look to maximize our assets by choosing a balanced pace and price. In an effort to optimize our portfolio, community by community, we determine where we will keep pushing for a four net sales per month phase, which is where we operate the most efficiently, and where we choose to temporarily moderate the sales base due to the inelasticity of demand.

在當前的經濟背景下，我們正在評估這些持續的即時調整，以期透過選擇平衡的步伐和價格來最大化我們的資產。為了優化我們的投資組合，我們逐一社區地確定哪些社區將繼續努力實現每月 4 筆淨銷售額的目標，因為這是我們營運效率最高的社區；而哪些社區由於需求缺乏彈性，我們選擇暫時調整銷售規模。

While we are primarily focused on pace as an entry-level spec builder, we are not willing to sell our homes at any clearing price just to chase incremental sales where we know it's compromising the integrity of our land values. Said another way, we are not going to compromise the quality land book we have worked so hard to acquire just to hit an enterprise order number. For us, it is about optimizing every community in our land book. By pulling these levers, we are intently focused on optimizing our returns.

雖然我們作為入門級房屋建造商主要關注的是速度，但我們不願意為了追求增量銷售而以任何清倉價出售房屋，因為我們知道這樣做會損害我們的土地價值。換句話說，我們不會為了達到企業訂單數量而犧牲我們辛苦獲得的優質土地儲備。對我們來說，關鍵在於優化我們土地名錄中的每個社區。透過這些操作，我們全神貫注於優化收益。

At the end of the third quarter, we have yet again achieved our highest community count in company history at 334. The team also found ways to improve our cycle times even further to approximately 105 calendar days from about 110 calendar days in Q2. By slowing land spend, we maintained a strong balance sheet with a focus on liquidity and returned $85 million to shareholders in the third quarter.

第三季末，我們的社群數量再次創下公司歷史新高，達到 334 個。團隊還找到了進一步縮短週期時間的方法，將第二季的週期時間縮短至約 105 個日曆日，而第二季約為 110 個日曆日。透過放緩土地支出，我們維持了強勁的資產負債表，重點關注流動性，並在第三季向股東返還了 8,500 萬美元。

Now turning to slide 4, third-quarter 2025 orders were 4% higher year over year due to a 14% increase in average community count that was partially offset by a 7% decrease in average absorption pace. Cancellation rate of 11% this quarter remained lower than historical average, reflecting the limited time between a sale and closing with our 60-day closing ready commitment.

現在來看第 4 張投影片，由於平均社群數量增加了 14%，2025 年第三季的訂單量年增了 4%，但平均吸收速度下降了 7%，部分抵銷了這一成長。本季取消率仍為 11%，低於歷史平均水平，反映出銷售和成交之間的時間有限，因為我們承諾 60 天內完成交易。

At third-quarter 2025, ending community count of 334 was up 20% year over year compared to 278 at September 3, 2024, and also up 7% sequentially compared to 312 at June 30, 2025. During the quarter, we brought over 45 new communities online throughout all of our regions. To date this year, we have opened nearly 130 community openings.

截至 2025 年第三季末，社區數量為 334 個，比 2024 年 9 月 3 日的 278 個增加了 20%，比 2025 年 6 月 30 日的 312 個增加了 7%。本季度，我們在所有地區推出了超過 45 個新的社區。今年迄今為止，我們已經開設了近 130 個社區開放計畫。

With today's efficient supply chain and available labor capacity, we were even able to pull forward some of our openings that were slated for October. So now we anticipate holding our community count fairly steady from Q3 to Q4 to end the year with a mid-double-digit year-over-year growth.

憑藉著如今高效的供應鏈和充足的勞動力，我們甚至能夠提前一些原定於 10 月的招募工作。因此，我們預計從第三季度到第四季度，我們的社區數量將保持相對穩定，從而在年底實現兩位數的同比增長。

Based on our current land pipeline, we expect another additional double-digit year-over-year growth for 2026 year-end community count. ASPs on order this quarter of 389,000 was down 4% from prior year due to increased use of incentives and discounts. We offered a wide range of possible incentives and tailored a solution to each customer's need.

根據我們目前的土地儲備，我們預計 2026 年底社區數量將再實現兩位數的年增長。由於激勵措施和折扣的使用增加，本季平均訂單量為 389,000 輛，比去年同期下降 4%。我們提供了多種激勵措施，並根據每位客戶的需求量身定制了解決方案。

As we are in the final days of October, I wanted to provide some high-level commentary on what we are seeing so far in Q4. Demand in this fund feels very similar to September, taking into account some additional seasonality. Lower mortgage interest rates have not sparked outside demand, but we believe we can achieve our internal sales order targets through our incentive offerings and by leaning into our broker relationships.

十月即將結束，我想就第四季目前的情況做一些高層次的評論。考慮到一些額外的季節性因素，基金的需求感覺與 9 月非常相似。抵押貸款利率下降並未刺激外部需求，但我們相信，透過我們的激勵措施和加強與經紀人的關係，我們可以實現內部銷售訂單目標。

Now moving on to the regional level trends on slide 5, the local demand environment in each of our regions continue to vary market by market in Q3. Some of our most favorable markets, Dallas, Houston, Southern California, as well as North and South Carolinas, achieved a strong absorption pace as market conditions continue to hold steady in those geographies. Conversely, our teams continue to work through challenges in Austin, San Antonio, certain parts of Florida, Northern California amid softer market conditions this quarter. And Colorado remained tough given the impact of stressed affordability.

現在來看投影片 5 的區域層級趨勢，第三季我們各區域的本地需求環境持續因市場而異。我們一些最有利的市場，如達拉斯、休士頓、南加州以及北卡羅來納州和南卡羅來納州，由於這些地區的市場狀況持續保持穩定，因此這些市場的銷售速度強勁。相反，由於本季市場環境疲軟，我們的團隊在奧斯汀、聖安東尼奧、佛羅裡達州部分地區以及北加州等地繼續應對挑戰。鑑於經濟承受能力緊張的影響，科羅拉多州的情況依然嚴峻。

These headwinds were primarily an affordability concern and a lack of buyer urgency and not directly impacted by the increase in existing home inventory, especially when considering Florida and Texas, as most of the resale inventory is not directly comparable to our entry-level product, nor does it offer our incentives. Regardless of the geography, we saw an uptick in the use of incentives in all of our markets, as consumer sentiment and affordability concerns remain challenged.

這些不利因素主要是購屋能力問題和買家缺乏緊迫感，並沒有直接受到現有房屋庫存增加的影響，尤其是在佛羅裡達州和德克薩斯州，因為大多數二手房庫存與我們的入門級產品沒有直接可比性，也不提供我們的優惠。無論地理位置如何，我們在所有市場都看到激勵措施的使用增加，因為消費者信心和購買力問題仍然面臨挑戰。

Now turning to slide 6, in Q3, we moderated starts, which totaled approximately 3,000 homes in the third quarter of 2025, 19% less than last year's Q3, to align with softer demand environment and expected Q4 seasonality. The 60-day closing-ready guarantee element of our strategy enables us to quickly convert sales to closing.

現在來看第 6 張投影片，在第三季度，我們調整了開工量，2025 年第三季開工量約為 3,000 套房屋，比去年第三季度減少了 19%，以適應疲軟的需求環境和預期的第四季度季節性因素。我們策略中的「60天成交準備就緒保證」要素使我們能夠快速將銷售轉化為成交。

With a 211% backlog conversion rate, our ending backlog declined from approximately 2,300 units as of September 30, 2024 to 1,700 units as of September 30, 2025. A higher backlog conversion and shorter title times allows us to turn our home inventory about three times per year. With three consecutive quarters of backlog conversion rate above 200%, we now believe our long-term backlog conversion will be between 175% and 200%.

由於積壓訂單轉換率達到 211%，我們的期末積壓訂單從 2024 年 9 月 30 日的約 2300 件減少到 2025 年 9 月 30 日的 1700 件。更高的房屋銷售轉換率和更短的產權過戶時間使我們能夠每年大約週轉三次房屋庫存。連續三個季度積壓訂單轉換率超過 200%，我們現在相信，我們的長期積壓訂單轉換率將在 175% 到 200% 之間。

Since 50% or more of our deliveries have been generated from inter-quarter sales for several quarters now, the aggregate of total specs and backlog is our preferred metric to analyze the right inventory levels at each of our communities. We had approximately 8,000 specs and backlog units as of September 30, 2025, as compared to about 9,100 units as of September 30, 2024. We had approximately 6,400 spec homes in inventory as of September 30, 2025, down 6% from approximately 6,800 specs as of September 30, 2024, and down 8% sequentially from Q2.

由於我們 50% 或以上的交付量已經連續幾個季度來自季度間銷售，因此總規格和積壓訂單的總和是我們分析每個社區正確庫存水準的首選指標。截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，我們有大約 8,000 台規格和積壓訂單單元，而截至 2024 年 9 月 30 日，這一數字約為 9,100 台。截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，我們的庫存中約有 6,400 套樣品房，比 2024 年 9 月 30 日的約 6,800 套樣品房減少了 6%，比第二季度環比減少了 8%。

The 19 specs per store this quarter translated to five months of supply compared to 24 specs per store and six months in last year's third quarter. Our completed specs comprise 47% of our total count as of September 30, 2025. Although this is slightly higher than our target of about one-third complete specs, we were comfortable holding onto some of our specs to preserve margins and plan to work down this inventory by year-end.

本季每家門市的 19 件商品相當於 5 個月的供應量，而去年第三季每家門市的 24 件商品相當於 6 個月的供應量。截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，我們已完成的規格佔總數的 47%。雖然這比我們約三分之一的完整規格的目標略高，但我們樂於保留一些規格以保持利潤率，並計劃在年底前減少這些庫存。

With that, I will now turn it over to Hilla to walk through our financial results. Hilla?

接下來，我將把發言權交給希拉，讓她來介紹我們的財務表現。希拉？

Thank you, Philippe. Let's turn to slide 7 and cover our Q3 results in more detail. The third-quarter 2025 home closing revenue of $1.4 billion was 12% lower than prior year as a result of both 7% lower home closing volume and a 5% decrease in ASP on closings to $380,000 per home. The decline in ASP is primarily due to the increased use of incentives and discounting as well as some geographic mix to a lesser extent.

謝謝你，菲利普。讓我們翻到第 7 張投影片，更詳細地了解我們第三季的業績。2025 年第三季房屋成交收入為 14 億美元，比去年同期下降 12%，原因是房屋成交量下降 7%，以及房屋成交平均售價下降 5% 至每套房屋 38 萬美元。平均售價下降的主要原因是激勵措施和折扣的使用增加，其次是地理組合的變化。

Home closing gross margin of 19.1% in the third quarter of 2025 was down 575 bps from 24.8% in the third quarter of 2024, reflecting increased use of incentives, inventory-related impairment and walk-away charges, higher lot costs, and reduced leverage of fixed costs on lower home closing revenue, all of which were partially offset by improved direct costs and shorter cycle times.

2025 年第三季房屋成交毛利率為 19.1%，比 2024 年第三季的 24.8% 下降了 575 個基點，這反映出激勵措施的使用增加、庫存相關的減值和放棄費用、地塊成本增加以及房屋成交收入下降對固定成本的槓桿作用降低，所有這些都被槓桿直接改善和時間的部分抵消。

Our Q3 2025 margins included $8.7 million of real estate inventory impairments and $5.8 million of walk-away charges for land deals we are no longer pursuing. This is compared to no impairments and $2 million in terminated land walk-away charges in the prior year. Excluding these inventory-related charges, adjusted margins were 20.1% and 24.9% in the third quarters of 2025 and 2024, respectively.

我們 2025 年第三季的利潤率包括 870 萬美元的房地產庫存減損損失和 580 萬美元的放棄交易費用（因為我們不再進行土地交易）。相較之下，上一年沒有出現減值，但有 200 萬美元的終止土地交易費用。在剔除這些與庫存相關的費用後，2025 年第三季和 2024 年第三季的調整後利潤率分別為 20.1% 和 24.9%。

As a result of the elevated land development costs that began in 2022 and the typical 18- to 24-month timeline required to bring on a new community, our current land basis is fully comprised of this higher cost of land and is a greater percentage of our revenue than both with historical levels and prior year. However, incremental green shoots related to the current price of land and development costs are encouraging.

由於 2022 年開始土地開發成本上升，以及開發新社區通常需要 18 到 24 個月的時間，我們目前的土地基礎完全由更高的土地成本構成，並且占我們收入的比例比歷史水平和前一年都要高。然而，與當前土地價格和開發成本相關的漸進性改善跡象令人鼓舞。

As many builders have terminated some of their option land, we believe there are opportunities to upgrade our pipeline and find cheaper or better position lots. We are also actively rebidding land development spend wherever possible. We expect the stabilizing land acquisition and development conditions we are now experiencing will be beneficial to our gross margin in late 2027 and into 2028.

由於許多建築商已經終止了部分土地選擇權，我們認為有機會升級我們的項目，並找到更便宜或位置更好的土地。我們也盡可能地積極重新招標土地開發案。我們預計，目前土地收購和開發環境的穩定將有利於我們在 2027 年底和 2028 年的毛利率。

During the quarter, our procurement team's persistent hunt for cost savings led to a 3% year-over-year reduction in our direct cost per square foot. We continue to find available labor in our markets, potentially stemming from slower multifamily construction and reduced starts in the industry, which was a factor in our improved cycle times that Philippe mentioned earlier.

本季度，我們的採購團隊堅持不懈地尋求節省成本，使我們每平方英尺的直接成本比去年同期降低了 3%。我們繼續在市場上找到可用的勞動力，這可能源於多戶住宅建設速度放緩和行業開工量減少，這也是菲利普之前提到的我們週期時間縮短的因素。

As we look at our margins this quarter, the lower revenue due to the timing of closings under our new strategy also resulted in about 50 bps in lost gross margin leverage compared to the prior quarter. Our long-term gross margin target remains at 22.5% to 23.5%. For this target to occur, we believe economic conditions need to stabilize, which will allow us to pull back on the incentive burden, and we can again begin to benefit from the scale and efficiency of our spec strategy and streamlined operations.

從本季的利潤率來看，由於新策略下交易完成時間的調整導致收入下降，毛利率槓桿率較上一季下降了約 50 個基點。我們的長期毛利率目標仍為 22.5% 至 23.5%。我們認為，要實現這一目標，經濟狀況需要穩定下來，這將使我們能夠減輕激勵負擔，從而再次從我們的投機策略和精簡營運的規模和效率中受益。

SG&A as a percentage of home closing revenue in the third quarter of 2025 was 10.8% compared to 9.9% for the third quarter of 2024, primarily as a result of higher commission rates and technology costs, as well as lost leverage on lower home closing revenue, all of which were partially offset by lower compensation costs. Q3 external commission rates were higher year over year, as they helped to secure volume in a tougher selling environment. Our co-broke percentage was in the low 90s and remained similar to the first half of this year.

2025 年第三季銷售、一般及行政費用佔房屋成交收入的百分比為 10.8%，而 2024 年第三季為 9.9%，這主要是由於佣金率和技術成本上升，以及房屋成交收入下降導致槓桿作用減弱，但所有這些都被較低的薪酬成本部分抵消。第三季外部佣金率較去年同期上升，這有助於在更艱難的銷售環境下確保銷售量。我們的合作經紀比例在 90% 左右，與今年上半年基本持平。

Our newer divisions continue to temporarily negatively impact our overall SG&A as they ramp up to be able to contribute a mature division's revenue profile while they are already incurring a full overhead expense structure. We continue to assess all aspects of SG&A to find ways to reduce overhead dollars in leverage and explore ways to lean in with technology to improve back-office efficiencies. We maintain our long-term SG&A target of 9.5% once we achieve higher closing volumes.

由於我們較新的部門需要逐步擴大規模，才能達到成熟部門的收入水平，同時也要承擔全部的間接費用，因此它們會暫時對我們的整體銷售、管理及行政費用產生負面影響。我們將繼續評估銷售、一般及行政費用 (SG&A) 的各個方面，以尋找降低管理費用的方法，並探索如何利用科技來提高後台效率。一旦成交量提高，我們將維持9.5%的長期銷售、管理及行政費用目標。

The third quarter's effective income tax rate was 22.6% this year, compared to 21.6% for the third quarter of 2024. The higher tax rate in 2025 reflects fewer homes qualifying for energy tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, given the new higher construction threshold required to earn the tax credits this year.

今年第三季的實際所得稅率為 22.6%，而 2024 年第三季的實際所得稅率為 21.6%。2025 年較高的稅率反映出，根據《通貨膨脹削減法案》，符合能源稅收抵免條件的房屋數量減少，因為今年獲得稅收抵免所需的建築門檻提高了。

Overall, lower home closing revenue and gross profit as well as higher SG&A and tax rates led to a 48% year-over-year decrease in third quarter 2025 diluted EPS to $1.39 from $2.67 in 2024. Excluding the $14.5 million in combined real estate inventory impairments and terminated land charges, our adjusted diluted EPS for the third quarter of 2025 was $1.55.

總體而言，房屋成交收入和毛利下降，以及銷售、一般及行政費用和稅率上升，導致 2025 年第三季稀釋後每股收益同比下降 48%，從 2024 年的 2.67 美元降至 1.39 美元。剔除 1,450 萬美元的房地產庫存減損和終止的土地費用，我們 2025 年第三季的調整後稀釋每股收益為 1.55 美元。

To highlight a few of the results for the first nine months of 2025, on a year-over-year basis, orders were up 1%, closings were down 3%, and our home closing revenue decreased 8% to $4.4 billion. Excluding $20.1 million in combined real estate inventory impairments and terminated land charges this year as compared to $3.9 million in 2024, our year-to-date adjusted gross margin of 21.2% was 440 bps lower than adjusted gross margin of 25.6% last year.

為突顯2025年前九個月的部分業績，與去年同期相比，訂單量成長了1%，成交量下降了3%，房屋成交收入下降了8%，至44億美元。剔除今年 2,010 萬美元的房地產庫存減損和終止土地抵押（2024 年為 390 萬美元），我們今年迄今的調整後毛利率為 21.2%，比去年的調整後毛利率 25.6% 低 440 個基點。

SG&A as a percentage of home closing revenue was 90 bps higher at 10.7%, and net earnings decreased 40% to $369 million. Excluding the inventory-related charges, adjusted diluted EPS for the first nine months of 2025 was $5.35 compared to $8.40 in 2024.

銷售、一般及行政費用佔房屋成交收入的比例上升了 90 個基點，達到 10.7%，淨利潤下降了 40%，至 3.69 億美元。剔除與庫存相關的費用後，2025 年前九個月的調整後稀釋每股收益為 5.35 美元，而 2024 年為 8.40 美元。

Before we move on to the balance sheet, I wanted to share our customers' third-quarter credit metrics. As expected, FICO scores, DTIs, and LTVs remained relatively consistent with our historical averages. While most of our customers can qualify for a mortgage without financing incentives, many are nonetheless asking for them to help address their affordability concerns. On to slide 8.

在分析資產負債表之前，我想先分享一下我們客戶第三季的信用指標。正如預期的那樣，FICO 分數、債務收入比和貸款價值比與我們的歷史平均值保持相對一致。雖然我們的大多數客戶無需融資優惠即可獲得抵押貸款資格，但許多客戶仍然要求獲得融資優惠以解決他們的負擔能力問題。接下來是第8張投影片。

Our balance sheet remains healthy at September 30, 2025, with cash of $729 million, nothing drawn on our credit facility, and a net debt-to-cap of 17.2%. As a reminder, our net debt-to-cap ceiling remains in the mid-20% range. Given current economic conditions, we intentionally reduced land spent by 14% year over year and redeployed some of that excess cash by returning capital to shareholders.

截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，我們的資產負債表依然健康，擁有 7.29 億美元的現金，未動用任何信貸額度，淨負債資本比率為 17.2%。再次提醒，我們的淨負債與資本比率上限仍維持在 20% 左右。鑑於目前的經濟狀況，我們有意將土地支出年減了 14%，並將部分多餘的現金重新投入市場，將資本返還給股東。

Our spend on land acquisition and development net of reimbursements totaled $528 million for the third quarter of 2025. The decision to slow land spend isn't expected to have a material impact on our near- or mid-term growth plans. Our full-year 2025 land spend target remains around $2 billion.

2025 年第三季度，我們在土地購買和開發方面的支出（扣除補償金後）總計 5.28 億美元。放緩土地支出的決定預計不會對我們的近期或中期增長計劃產生實質影響。我們2025年全年土地支出目標仍維持在20億美元左右。

To maximize shareholder value creation, we returned $85 million of cash to shareholders this quarter, compared to $57 million in the third quarter of 2024. We recognize the current undervaluation of our stock, so we bought back over 772,000 shares for $55 million this quarter. This spend was 83% more than prior year and 22% greater sequentially. To date, in 2025, we have spent $145 million on share repurchases, reducing our 2024 year-end outstanding share count by almost 3%.

為了最大限度地創造股東價值，本季我們向股東返還了 8,500 萬美元現金，而 2024 年第三季為 5,700 萬美元。我們意識到我們股票目前被低估，因此本季我們斥資 5,500 萬美元回購了超過 77.2 萬股股票。這一支出比上年增長了 83%，比上年增長了 22%。截至目前，2025 年，我們已花費 1.45 億美元用於股票回購，使我們 2024 年末的流通股數減少了近 3%。

During the third quarter, our Board approved an additional $500 million in authorized shares repurchases, and as of September 30, 2025, $664 million remained available under the program. Although we do not anticipate buying back the entire $500 million in a very short period of time, we do anticipate accelerating our quarterly repurchases notably and incrementally. We can and will also repurchase shares opportunistically based on market conditions.

第三季度，我們的董事會批准了額外的 5 億美元授權股票回購計劃，截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，該計劃下仍有 6.64 億美元可用。雖然我們預計不會在很短的時間內回購全部 5 億美元，但我們預計會顯著且逐步地加快季度回購速度。我們可以根據市場狀況擇機回購股票。

We increased our quarterly cash dividend 15% year over year to $0.43 per share in 2025. from $0.375 per share in 2024. Our cash dividends totaled $30 million in the third quarter of 2025 and $92 million year to date. For the first nine months of the year, we returned a total of $237 million of capital to shareholders, or 64% of our total earnings so far this year.

我們將 2025 年的季度現金股利較上年同期成長 15%，從 2024 年的每股 0.375 美元增至每股 0.43 美元。2025 年第三季度，我們的現金股利總額為 3,000 萬美元，今年迄今已累計派發 9,200 萬美元現金股利。今年前九個月，我們向股東返還了 2.37 億美元的資本，佔今年迄今總收益的 64%。

Slide 9. In the third quarter of 2025, we secured nearly 2,000 net new lots under control, which included the impact of 400 terminated lots. These terminations were in connection with our routine quarterly reviews, where we identified certain land deals that no longer meet our underwriting standards or are in locations where we think there are better opportunities to upgrade our existing pipeline.

幻燈片 9。2025 年第三季度，我們控制了近 2,000 個淨新增地塊，其中包括 400 個終止地塊的影響。這些終止與我們的例行季度審查有關，我們在審查中發現某些土地交易不再符合我們的承保標準，或位於我們認為有更好機會升級現有管道的地方。

In the third quarter of 2024, we put nearly 7,800 net new lots under control. as of September 30, 2025, we owned or controlled a total of about 80,800 lots, equating to 5.3-year supply of lots of the last 12 months of closings. We also had nearly 21,000 lots that were undergoing diligence at the end of the quarter.

2024 年第三季度，我們控制了近 7,800 個淨新增地塊。截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，我們擁有或控制的地塊總數約為 80,800 個，相當於過去 12 個月成交地塊的 5.3 年供應量。截至本季末，我們還有近 21,000 個地塊正在進行盡職調查。

When it comes to financing land purchases, we remain focused on utilizing more off-balance sheets financing opportunities, and we analyzed every deal for land banking consideration as we look to balance margin and IRR. About 69% of our total lot inventory at September 30, 2025 was owned and 31% optioned compared to prior year where we had a 64% owned inventory and a 34% optioned lot position.

在土地收購融資方面，我們仍然專注於利用更多表外融資機會，我們分析了每一筆交易，考慮土地儲備，以平衡利潤率和內部收益率。截至 2025 年 9 月 30 日，我們約 69% 的總地塊庫存為自有，31% 為期權持有，而上一年，我們的自有庫存為 64%，期權持有地塊佔比為 34%。

Finally, I'll direct you to slide 10 for our guidance. For Q4 2025, we are projecting total home closings between 3,800 and 4,000 units, home closing revenue of $1.46 billion to $1.54 billion, home closing gross margin of 19% to 20%, an effective tax rate of about 24.5%, and diluted EPS in the range of $1.51 to $1.70.

最後，請參考第 10 張投影片。我們預計 2025 年第四季房屋總成交量將在 3,800 至 4,000 套之間，房屋成交收入將在 14.6 億美元至 15.4 億美元之間，房屋成交毛利率將在 19% 至 20% 之間，有效稅率約為 24.5%，稀釋後每股收益將在 1.57 美元之間。

The expected home closing gross margin decline from Q3 to the midpoint of Q4 guidance is a function of the anticipated higher incentive environment that historically coincides with most builders' year-end and the closing of some of our completed specs that do not reflect all of the cost savings we've achieved in the last quarter or so.

預計從第三季到第四季中點，房屋成交毛利率將下降，這是由於預期更高的激勵環境所致，而這種環境歷來與大多數建築商的年末期以及我們一些已完工的樣品屋的交割期重合，這些樣品屋的交割期並未反映出我們在過去一個季度左右所實現的全部成本節約。

With that, I'll turn it back over to Philippe.

這樣，我就把麥克風交還給菲利普了。

Thank you, Hilla. In closing, please turn to slide 11. Q3 was characterized by softer home buying demand, which we navigated by continuing to offer affordability and certainty to our customers. We also focused on maximizing each asset by pushing certain communities and geographies to a higher sales pace and pulling back on other communities in weaker markets where we slowed our pace to preserve gross margin.

謝謝你，希拉。最後，請翻到第11頁投影片。第三季的特點是購屋需求疲軟，我們透過持續為客戶提供價格合理、有保障的住房來應對這項挑戰。我們也專注於最大化利用每項資產，推動某些社區和地區的銷售速度加快，同時放緩其他市場疲軟地區的銷售速度，以維持毛利率。

We also intentionally reduce our start space and land spend to align with current market conditions while we improve cycle times and increase our community count to set us up for near-term future growth. We believe our flexible strategy is our competitive advantage and allows us to maximize our financial performance and redeploy capital to return to shareholders, all while maintaining a healthy liquidity position.

我們也刻意減少了啟動空間和土地支出，以適應當前的市場狀況，同時縮短週期時間，增加社區數量，為近期未來的成長做好準備。我們相信，我們靈活的策略是我們的競爭優勢，使我們能夠最大限度地提高財務業績，並將資本重新部署以回報股東，同時保持健康的流動性狀況。

With that, I will now turn the call over to the operator for instructions on the Q&A. Operator?

接下來，我將把電話轉交給接線員，聽取有關問答環節的指示。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Alan Ratner, Zelman.

（操作說明）艾倫·拉特納，澤爾曼。

Hey, guys. Good morning. Thanks for all the info so far. Much appreciated. So my question relates to kind of the strategy pivot that you guys have been embarking on and kind of the impact that that's had on your overall return profile. And I know there's a lot of moving pieces here. And a lot of the ROE compression we've seen is just a function of the market and the margin compression, which is kind of independent of that. But if I look at your inventory turnover right now, over the last 12 months, you're down to about 0.7 times. And before the pivot, that was north of 1.

嘿，夥計們。早安.感謝您目前為止提供的所有資訊。非常感謝。所以我的問題與你們正在進行的策略轉型以及這種轉型對你們整體回報狀況的影響有關。我知道這裡面有很多變數。我們看到的許多 ROE 壓縮只是市場和利潤率壓縮的結果，而利潤率壓縮與此在某種程度上是獨立的。但如果我看一下你過去 12 個月的庫存週轉率，你會發現已經降到了大約 0.7 次。在轉向之前，這個數值高於 1。

And I know you mentioned the kind of accumulation of completed specs and that number trending higher than kind of your long-term plans there. I'm just curious, should we think about this as like a trough and as you move towards recalibrating that completed spec number, is there an opportunity to see more meaningful cash generation and improvement on that terms? Or is this something that you would say is still kind of in the early innings and might take a little bit longer to materialize?

我知道您提到過已完成規格的累積情況，而且這個數字比您的長期計劃要高。我只是好奇，我們是否應該把這看作是一個低谷，隨著你重新調整完成的規格數量，是否有機會看到更有意義的現金流產生和在這方面的改進？或者您認為這件事還處於早期階段，可能需要更長時間才能實現？

Thanks, Alan. Yes, I would say, I don't know about the early innings, but we're still optimizing everything within our current strategy. You highlighted the specs as our cycle times have been reduced, and we've put a finer point on the move-in ready strategy and the closing ready guarantee when we can actually release homes for sale to fit inside the window. I think there's an opportunity to optimize our spec strategy.

謝謝你，艾倫。是的，我不太清楚比賽初期的情況，但我們仍在當前戰略框架內優化一切。您強調了我們的規格，因為我們的週期時間已經縮短，而且我們更加註重入住準備策略和交房準備保證，以便我們能夠真正推出符合預期時間要求的待售房屋。我認為我們有機會優化我們的股票策略。

I think when things are working really well and everything is fully optimized, we can get closer to a four-month supply of specs versus the current five to six. So as we look into 2026, we think there's a real opportunity to do that. So that would be number one. The other thing I would say is obviously we've been in significant growth mode. And so we've been building up our land pipeline. It's taken quite a bit longer than it used to bring lots to the market due to the regulatory environment.

我認為，當一切進展順利，所有環節都已充分優化時，我們可以將規格供應量從目前的五到六個月提高到四個月。所以展望2026年，我們認為這是實現這一目標的真正機會。所以，那應該是第一點。我還要補充一點，很顯然，我們一直處於快速成長期。因此，我們一直在擴大我們的陸地計畫儲備。由於監管環境的變化，現在許多產品上市所需的時間比以前長了許多。

But I think we're getting better at that as well. The environment's getting better, and I think there's some opportunity for us to get more efficient with our land book as well in our existing strategy. Now that we know exactly what type of deals we're looking for for our new strategy, I think the deal sizes can get smaller and more efficient as well. So between those two things, we feel like those are the biggest opportunities for us to drive a higher ROE and generate more free cash flow.

但我認為我們在這方面也在不斷進步。環境正在好轉，我認為在現有策略下，我們也有機會更有效地利用土地資源。既然我們已經確切地知道新策略需要什麼樣的交易，我認為交易規模也可以更小、更有效率。因此，我們認為這兩件事是我們提高淨值收益率和產生更多自由現金流的最大機會。

I think also this quarter, Alan, was a unique opportunity. This is the first quarter that we've picked kind of above our target of the third of completed specs, and that was intentional, right? Part of it was an accelerated cycle time, but part of it was intentional. We weren't willing to sell inventory below a certain margin. So you're seeing that reset. So we've mentioned the reduction in spec start, so you're seeing that reset start this quarter. And as we sell those specs into Q1, you should see a more efficient -- with balance for us going forward.

我認為，艾倫，這個季度也是一個難得的機會。這是我們首次將完成規格的季度目標設定得高於三分之一，這是有意為之，對吧？一部分原因是周期時間縮短，但一部分原因是故意的。我們不願意以低於一定利潤率的價格出售庫存。所以你現在看到的是重置。我們已經提到了規格啟動的減少，所以你會看到本季的重置啟動。隨著我們在第一季售出這些規格的產品，您應該會看到一個更有效率的局面——這將有利於我們未來的發展。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. Second question, just on the community count growth outlook in '26, sounds like it's going to be another very strong year there. How should we think about the interplay there with margin? And I guess what I mean by that is this year, you guys have posted double-digit community count growth.

知道了。好的。那很有幫助。第二個問題，關於 2026 年的社區數量成長前景，聽起來又將是強勁的一年。我們該如何看待利潤率與利潤率之間的交互作用？我的意思是，今年你們的社區數量實現了兩位數的成長。

We know the market's not up double digits in terms of demand, which is partly why your margins are lower and your absorptions are lower. If we kind of just assume demand stays where it is, does that necessarily mean that your margins are going to take another step lower as you try to push through more supply, or are there kind of puts and takes that we need to consider independent of that?

我們知道市場需求並沒有達到兩位數的成長，這也是你們利潤率較低、吸收率較低的部分原因。如果我們假設需求保持不變，這是否必然意味著隨著供應量的增加，利潤率會進一步下降？或者，是否存在一些與此無關的利弊需要考慮？

Yes, I think there's puts and takes. I don't think the new communities that we're opening up as we look at what we opened up this year and then what we are opening up next year are going to be a tailwind of margins. I also don't think that they're going to be a headwind. Even though we're bringing them on at a higher land basis, they were underwritten at a higher land basis at a different revenue and absorption profile.

是的，我認為有付出也有回報。我認為，看看我們今年開放的社區以及明年即將開放的社區，它們不會帶來利潤成長的順風。我也不認為他們會構成阻礙。儘管我們以更高的土地成本收購它們，但它們當初是以更高的土地成本承銷的，而且收入和吸收情況也不同。

So as we underwrite those new deals and look at those new deals, I think they're coming on at margins similar to where we're at today. I wish I could tell you that they were coming on at our long-term targeted, but given the current incentive load that we're experiencing in the market, I think they're coming on more in line with where we are today than where our long-term goals are as a company.

因此，當我們評估這些新交易並審視這些新交易時，我認為它們的利潤率與我們目前的利潤率相似。我希望我能告訴你，他們的業績達到了我們的長期目標，但考慮到我們目前在市場上面臨的激勵壓力，我認為他們的業績更符合我們目前的實際情況，而不是我們公司的長期目標。

Yes, sticks and bricks and land are aligned. Although I think we've mentioned this repeatedly on the last couple years of calls, the higher volume that we'll be getting from the incremental community should help leverage the fixed components better. So while the margin profile before overheads is the same, that extra volume should really help us leverage the entire structure.

是的，木棍、磚塊和土地都排列整齊。雖然我認為我們在過去幾年的電話會議上已經反复提到過這一點，但從增量社區獲得的更高數量應該有助於更好地利用固定組件。因此，雖然扣除營運成本前的利潤率保持不變，但額外的交易量應該能夠真正幫助我們充分利用整個結構。

And I would just tell you that as we think about next year, although we're not prepared to give out anything, we're not expecting currently the market to get better. But the significant and meaningful community growth that we're going to start the year out with, and then the additional communities that we'll bring on through the year, if the market were to stay where it is today, that will provide the growth that we need as a company.

我只想告訴大家，展望明年，雖然我們不打算透露任何消息，但我們目前並不預期市場會好轉。但是，如果我們今年年初能夠實現意義重大且影響深遠的社區成長，以及今年我們將陸續推出的其他社區，並且市場保持目前的狀況，這將為我們公司提供所需的成長。

Trevor Allinson, Wolfe Research.

Trevor Allinson，Wolfe Research。

Hi, good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I wanted to follow up on the spec commentary. Your total specs and your spec per community are below as they've been in a while. You're talking about potentially over time moving back down to the lower end of your four- to six-month range. Is that something you expected to achieve here more near term? And then how should we think about, over the next couple of quarters, your starts relative to your sales?

您好，早安。謝謝您回答我的問題。我想就規格說明進行後續討論。以下是您的總配置和每個社區的配置，這些數據已經有一段時間沒有更新了。你指的是隨著時間的推移，可能會回到你四到六個月範圍的下限。這是你預期在短期內能夠實現的目標嗎？那麼，在接下來的幾個季度裡，我們該如何看待你的開工率與銷售額之間的關係呢？

Yes. The answer is yes. I think as we look at our current cycle times and we look at sort of fine-tuning our strategy and the amount of finished inventory we need to meet the closing ready guarantee and provide the realtors with the inventory they're looking for, we see an opportunity to bring our spec count on a per-store basis further down. It's about 19. I would love to see that closer to 16 based on current market conditions, so we'll work to accomplish that throughout next year.

是的。答案是肯定的。我認為，當我們審視當前的周期時間，並著手微調我們的策略以及我們需要達到交割準備就緒保證並向房地產經紀人提供他們所需庫存的成品庫存量時，我們看到了一個機會，可以進一步降低每家門店的樣板房數量。大約19歲。根據目前的市場情況，我希望這個數字能接近 16，所以我們將在明年努力實現這個目標。

But as far as starts, the starts are going to align with our sales pace, but you should see an increase in starts because of our community count growth. So as we roll through Q4 and work through some of the older inventory we have, and then we start to start more homes at the lower costs that we're seeing in our sticks, and then we ramp up our community count from where we are today, you'll see an increase in starts for those reasons. But we're going to align our starts cadence with our sales goals for next year, which we will provide in Q1.

但就開機量而言，開機量將與我們的銷售速度保持一致，但由於我們社區數量的增長，您應該會看到開機量增加。因此，隨著我們進入第四季度，逐步消化一些較早的庫存，然後開始以較低的成本建造更多房屋（因為我們在偏遠地區看到了這種成本），並且隨著我們社區數量的增加，由於這些原因，你會看到新房開工量增加。但我們將根據明年的銷售目標調整啟動節奏，我們將在第一季公佈這些目標。

Okay. Makes a lot of sense. And then, a question on your expectation for orders in 4Q. I know you don't guide directly to that, but just given so many of your closings are intra-quarter sales, it seems like you're perhaps expecting orders to be higher in 4Q than in 3Q. I guess, one, is that the case? Two, if so, is that a decision to lean into volumes here? Again, work down inventory describing what seems to be a little bit better than normal seasonal expectation on orders. Thanks.

好的。很有道理。然後，還有一個關於您對第四季度訂單預期的問題。我知道你沒有直接說明這一點，但鑑於你的成交訂單中有很多都是季度內銷售，你似乎預計第四季度的訂單量會高於第三季度。我想，第一，情況是這樣嗎？第二，如果是這樣的話，這是否意味著要加大對銷量的投入？再次，分析庫存情況，說明訂單量似乎比正常的季節性預期略好。謝謝。

Yes, I don't think we're expecting Q4 absorptions per store to be greater than kind of what Q3 was. We have a lot of new communities, so certainly that's providing some tailwind to our closing guidance. Really, you just look at our closing guidance and assume a 200% backlog conversion. You can kind of back into our sales space.

是的，我認為我們預計第四季每家門市的銷售額不會比第三季高出多少。我們有很多新的社區，這無疑對我們的成交預期起到了一定的推動作用。實際上，你只需看看我們的成交預期，並假設積壓訂單轉換率為 200% 即可。你可以重新回到我們的銷售領域。

As far as your question about leaning into volume, I would say no. Other than trying to clear out some older specs at some older direct costs that we want to get rid of so we can redeploy that capital and start new homes at much lower costs, we're going to be really focused on optimizing the profitability of each community.

至於你問的關於追求銷售的問題，我的回答是：不行。除了努力清理一些舊的規格和一些舊的直接成本（我們希望擺脫這些成本，以便重新部署資金，並以更低的成本開始建造新房）之外，我們將真正專注於優化每個社區的盈利能力。

And as we said in our prepared comments, we feel like chasing incremental volume right now is not in the best interest of our business. That doesn't mean we feel like we're going to get much lower than where we are today, but I'm not sure we're going to try to push absorption per store much harder than we're pushing today.

正如我們在準備好的評論中所說，我們認為現在追求銷售成長並不符合我們業務的最佳利益。這並不意味著我們覺得我們會比現在的水平低很多，但我不太確定我們會不會比現在更努力地提高每家門市的吸收率。

Stephen Kim, Evercore ISI.

Stephen Kim，Evercore ISI。

Yes, thanks very much, guys. Just had a couple of just clarifying questions here. First, I guess, when you talked about margins from new communities coming on at levels that are pretty similar to today, margins typically rise as you progress through a community. It kind of opens up with conservative pricing, et cetera, and then you sort of grow into a higher margin.

是的，非常感謝各位。我這裡還有幾個需要澄清的問題。首先，我想說的是，當你談到新社區的利潤率與現在的水平非常相似時，利潤率通常會隨著你在社區中的發展而上升。它一開始會採取保守的定價策略等等，然後逐步提高利潤率。

When you mean these communities are coming on at a similar margin, do you mean over the life of the community? Or do you actually mean that even when they first open up, they're going to come on at margins that are very similar to your company average right now?

當你說這些社區的發展速度相似時，你指的是社區的整個生命週期中的發展速度嗎？或者你的意思是，即使他們剛開始營業，他們的利潤率也會與貴公司目前的平均值非常接近？

Yes, I mean, I think to your point, in a normal market environment, we typically open up our communities, really try to find the market, and then we build up our backlog and grow -- grow our margins through the life stage of a community. But we're not in a typical market right now. And unfortunately, with discounts, incentives, and the competitive environment and affordability, I'm not sure we currently feel like there's a ton of upside through the lifespan of a community right now.

是的，我的意思是，我認為你說得對，在正常的市場環境下，我們通常會開放我們的社區，努力尋找市場，然後我們積累訂單，並在社區的生命週期中發展壯大——提高我們的利潤率。但我們現在所處的市場環境並不典型。但遺憾的是，考慮到折扣、獎勵、競爭環境和價格因素，我不確定我們目前是否覺得在社區的整個生命週期內有很大的發展空間。

So as we're modeling our future projections, the new communities are coming on similar to the margin profile we have today, and we're not necessarily predicting them to get better. Now obviously, if incentives moderate, affordability gets stronger, people start feeling more confident, the opportunity across our entire plan book to improve margins exists not only in the new communities that we're bringing on.

因此，在我們對未來進行預測建模時，新社區的發展趨勢與我們今天所看到的類似，我們並不認為它們會變得更好。顯然，如果激勵措施有所緩和，住房負擔能力增強，人們開始更有信心，那麼我們整個計劃體系中提高利潤率的機會不僅存在於我們正在引入的新社區中。

Yes, okay. That's encouraging. It sounds like you're being pretty conservative there, which is good. I wanted to follow up on the incentives. You've used the phrase quite a few times about how you've had to increase incentives, and obviously we understand why. But I wanted to clarify, how much of the increase in incentives that we've seen over the last couple of quarters is due to greater spend on forward purchase commitments versus other incentives?

好的。這令人鼓舞。聽起來你在這方面相當保守，這很好。我想進一步了解激勵措施的情況。您多次提到需要增加激勵措施，我們當然也理解其中的原因。但我想澄清一下，過去幾季我們看到的激勵措施增加，有多少是由於提前購買承諾支出增加，又有多少是因為其他激勵措施增加？

So I think a couple of our peers, Stephen, have mentioned it's about one-third, two-thirds of the total composition of the incentive pool, a third being financing-related and two-thirds being not financing-related. We're maybe closer to 40-60, but kind of very, very, very similar. I think all incentives have increased a bit. The cost of incentives -- the financing incentive is obviously lower, but we're seeing a higher participation pool of folks that are looking for that financing incentive.

所以我覺得我們的一些同行，Stephen，已經提到過，這大約佔激勵資金池總組成的三分之一到三分之二，其中三分之一與融資有關，三分之二與融資無關。我們可能更接近 40-60 歲，但其實非常非常非常相似。我認為所有激勵措施都略有增加。激勵措施的成本－融資激勵措施顯然較低，但我們看到尋求融資激勵措施的參與人數更多。

But just incentives overall have increased by kind of a proportional amount. There's just a belief that in today's environment, the customer has a negotiating power, which they may or may not have. But looking at the competitive landscape, they're trying to negotiate every deal, and the desirability for the affordability push, both through financing incentives and just general discounting, is consistent in the pace as compared to the last couple of years.

但整體而言，激勵措施的增加幅度大致與預期相符。一般認為，在現今環境下，顧客擁有議價能力，但這種能力是否真的存在，則未必可知。但從競爭格局來看，他們正努力爭取每一筆交易，而且透過融資誘因和一般折扣來提高可負擔性的力度，與過去幾年相比，步伐保持一致。

And that 40%, how much of that is forward purchase commitment specifically, though?

那麼，這 40% 究竟有多少是具體的預購承諾呢？

It's primarily forward purchase commitments. There's some additional layering of maybe like 3-2-1s or 2-1s. There's some early signs that ARMs are gaining some traction, but it's a low percentage of the total volume.

主要指遠期採購承諾。還有一些額外的分層，例如 3-2-1 或 2-1 的佈局。有跡象表明，ARM 正在獲得一些市場份額，但在總交易量中所佔比例仍然很低。

Got you. Okay. Thank you so much.

抓到你了。好的。太感謝了。

Michael Rehaut, JPMorgan.

Michael Rehaut，摩根大通。

Great, thanks. Appreciate it. First question on -- also just wanted a more of a clarification on incentives. When we think about the decline that you had in 3Q sequentially, it was solidly higher than a lot of your peers that have reported so far. By contrast, your outlook for 4Q being flat to up 100 is a little better. And I'm just wondering if that's mostly a function of more of the real-time elements of how you sell and close intra-quarter.

太好了，謝謝。謝謝。第一個問題是關於──另外，我還想更清楚地了解激勵機制。當我們回顧您第三季的環比下滑情況時，會發現它遠高於目前已公佈業績的許多同業。相比之下，你對第四季持平或成長 100% 的預期稍微好一些。我只是想知道這是否主要取決於季度內銷售和成交的即時因素。

I'm also thinking, and I think you referred to the fact that you've had this more intense, perhaps, focus on reducing some of the finished spec. And I don't know if that just had an outsized impact on 3Q that will not repeat in 4Q. Just trying to get my arms around some of those dynamics of having a stronger decline in 3Q and so far flat to up in 4Q.

我也在想，而且我想你也提到過，你可能更專注於減少一些最終的規格。我不知道這是否只是對第三季產生了過大的影響，而這種影響不會在第四季重現。我只是想弄清楚第三季下滑幅度更大，而第四季目前持平或上升的這種動態。

Thanks for the question. And I'll let Hilla jump in here. And I want to make sure I'm getting your question right because we're not guiding to better margins in Q4. I think what you're looking at is prior to impairments. So when you back out our impairments and walkaways from this quarter, we're actually guiding to a sequential decline in margins, although modest.

謝謝你的提問。接下來就讓希拉插話吧。我想確認我是否理解了您的問題，因為我們預計第四季度的利潤率不會有所提高。我認為你所看到的是損傷發生之前的情況。因此，如果扣除本季的減損損失和終止合同，我們實際上預計利潤率將環比下降，儘管幅度不大。

We're guiding to something closer to 19.5% versus the 20% that we said we were going to get in Q3. And the reason we're not guiding to flat or up margins in Q4 after you back out impairments and walkaways is we believe that we actually have some older specs that we're going to be clearing in Q4, which will modestly bring our margin profile down. So I just want to make sure you agree with what I just said there, Michael, and we're answering your question, but we're not guiding to better margins in Q4. (multiple speakers)

我們預計第三季成長率將接近 19.5%，而不是我們先前預測的 20%。之所以我們沒有預測第四季度利潤率在扣除減值和終止交易後會持平或上升，是因為我們認為我們實際上有一些較早的預期項目將在第四季度清算，這將略微降低我們的利潤率。所以我想確認一下你是否同意我剛才說的，邁克爾，我們正在回答你的問題，但我們預計第四季度的利潤率不會更好。（多位發言者）

Yes, no, I think that's right -- yes, go ahead, Hilla.

是的，沒錯，我想是對的──是的，希拉，請繼續。

No, perfect. I think I was just going to agree with everything that Philippe just said. So our margins last quarter without impairments were 21.4%. Our margins this quarter without impairments were 20.1%, so there was a pullback. Now we said about 50 bps was lost leverage. The rest is just market conditions. So there was a decline from Q2 to Q3, although maybe not as material as it seems if you're taking it inclusive of the impairments, and then kind of that incremental tick down into the Q4 guidance is both a function of clearing some of that older spec inventory that has a different cost basis.

不，完美。我想我本來會完全同意菲利普剛才說的話。因此，上個季度不計減損損失的利潤率為 21.4%。本季未計入減損損失的利潤率為 20.1%，因此出現了回檔。我們之前說過，損失了大約 50 個基點的槓桿。其餘的都取決於市場狀況。因此，從第二季度到第三季度出現了下滑，儘管如果將減值考慮在內，下滑幅度可能沒有看起來那麼大，而第四季度業績指引的逐步下調，既是由於清理了一些成本基礎不同的較早的投機性庫存。

And then, again, just echoing our peers, Q4 seems to be a period of time where folks try to hit certain targets, and maybe the incentive environment runs a little frothier than it typically does in our sector. So we're actually modeling some increased incentives just in acknowledgement of that trend. If we can come in better than that, obviously, we're going to try to get it. But we know that the last couple months of the year tend to be a little bit higher in incentive usage in our sector as a whole.

此外，正如我們的同業所說，第四季似乎是人們努力實現某些目標的時期，激勵機制可能比我們這個行業通常的情況要寬鬆一些。因此，為了順應這一趨勢，我們實際上正在製定一些增加激勵措施的方案。如果我們能做得更好，那當然，我們會努力爭取。但我們知道，每年的最後幾個月，我們整個產業的激勵措施使用率往往會略高一些。

Yes. No, no, thanks for that. I was looking at the wrong line in the model, so that was my fault, but I appreciate the clarification there. I guess, secondly, I just wanted to shift the share repurchase your comments around, I believe, just kind of directionally saying perhaps you're looking at a higher level going forward.

是的。不，不，謝謝你。我當時看錯了模型中的一行，這是我的錯，但我很感謝您的澄清。其次，我想稍微調整一下你關於股票回購的評論，我想表達的是，或許你未來可能會看到更高的價格水準。

And I think starting out the year or earlier this year, you talked about maybe a $15 million per quarter cadence, if I remember that right, and you've exceeded that somewhat regularly since then. Should we be thinking more of, I don't know, something in a $50 million to $100 million ZIP code going forward? I'm just trying to get my arms around kind of how you're thinking about share repurchase currently relative to maybe what you laid out earlier in the year.

我記得年初的時候，你好像說過每季收入要達到 1500 萬美元，從那以後，你的收入就常常超過這個數字。我們是否應該多考慮，比如說，在價值 5000 萬到 1 億美元的郵遞區號區域內開發專案？我只是想了解一下您目前對股票回購的看法，以及您今年早些時候提出的計劃有何不同。

Yes, I think we definitely think $15 million is too low. We think that our current cadence is probably the floor, right? So I think what we've done this quarter is probably a fair number to model. Opportunistically, we're definitely comfortable going deeper than that, but I think that our current cadence is a fair amount to kind of consider on a go-forward basis for us.

是的，我們一致認為1500萬美元絕對太低了。我們認為我們目前的節奏可能已經是最低水平了，對嗎？所以我認為我們本季所做的工作可能是比較合理的建模數字。從機會主義的角度來看，我們當然樂意更深入地探索，但我認為我們目前的節奏對於我們未來的發展來說是一個相當合理的考慮範圍。

John Lovallo, UBS.

瑞銀集團的約翰·洛瓦洛。

Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. The first one is certainly recognizing that soft consumer confidence has held back demand despite the drop in rates so far. It sounds to us like the desire to own is still very strong, traffic is reasonably good, and rates as early as today could start tweaking down even lower. I mean, I guess the question is how quickly, in your opinion, could the sales environment change with improved consumer confidence? And along those same lines, how quickly can you guys react to that change?

各位早安。謝謝您回答我的問題。首先，我們必須認識到，儘管利率有所下降，但疲軟的消費者信心抑制了需求。聽起來，人們的購屋慾望依然非常強烈，交通狀況也相當不錯，利率最快可能從今天就開始進一步下調。我的意思是，我想問的是，您認為隨著消費者信心的提高，銷售環境會以多快的速度改變？同樣地，你們能以多快的速度對這種變化做出反應？

Yes, thanks, John. Very quickly, I think if you look back over time and you look at consumer confidence, it really works both ways. When it goes bad, like it has here in the last two quarters, it moves really quickly through your business. You can see how much incentives are part of the game. Every customer is coming in looking for a deal to give them confidence that they're buying at the right time.

是的，謝謝你，約翰。簡而言之，我認為如果你回顧過去，看看消費者信心，你會發現它實際上是雙向的。當情況惡化時，就像過去兩個季度發生的那樣，它會迅速侵蝕你的業務。你可以看出，激勵機制在這場遊戲中扮演著多麼重要的角色。每個顧客都希望找到優惠，從而確信自己是在適當的時機購買。

Right now, buyers don't feel like they're buying at the right time, so we have to offer incentives to get them over the fence. That can change very quickly. As people get more optimistic about their prospects, about their employment opportunities, about their wage growth opportunities, about just general the cost of living and the overall economy, the psychology can change much quicker than affordability can change.

目前，買家感覺購買時機不對，所以我們必須提供一些優惠來促使他們最終下單。這種情況可能很快就會改變。隨著人們對自身前景、就業機會、薪資成長機會、生活成本和整體經濟狀況越來越樂觀，人們的心理變化速度可能比經濟承受能力的變化速度快得多。

And so if that happens, we think we're in a very good position to capture that with our move-in ready inventory. We have plentiful specs. We have a lot of lots that we can build on. So if the buyer psychology changes, I think we can capture market share really, really quickly. And frankly, I think we can pull back on incentives pretty quickly as well as long as the industry works in concert there. So it can move really quickly, John, and we'll see how the spring springs because that's the opportunity.

因此，如果這種情況發生，我們認為憑藉我們隨時可入住的房源，我們完全有能力抓住這個機會。我們有充足的規格參數。我們有很多地塊可以用來蓋房子。所以，如果買家的心理改變，我認為我們可以非常迅速地奪取市場份額。坦白說，我認為只要業界各方齊心協力，我們也可以很快地取消激勵措施。所以情況可能會發展得很快，約翰，我們會看看春天會如何到來，因為那就是機會。

That's the beauty of our strategy, right? Having the specs in the ground allows you to capitalize on that improvement today. with about 60% of our closings happening in the same period as our sales, we can see results same quarter versus having a two-, three-quarter lag between when there's a sale and a closing. And conversely, our rate locks are also short term. They're in sync with our cycle, so there's a very, very quick opportunity to reset all of the components.

這就是我們策略的妙處，對吧？有了完善的施工規範，您就能立即利用這些改善措施。我們約 60% 的成交都發生在銷售的同一時期，這意味著我們可以在同一季度看到成果，而無需像以往那樣，在銷售和成交之間滯後兩到三個季度。反之，我們的利率鎖定也是短期的。它們與我們的週期同步，因此有非常非常快速的機會重置所有組件。

And as we stated, we have the highest community count we've had in the history of the company. We feel like we have another solid double-digit growth projected for next year that we feel very good about those positions, those markets, the land. So we can really increase our market share in a better macro backdrop.

正如我們所說，我們目前擁有公司歷史上最高的社區成員數量。我們認為明年將再次實現兩位數的穩健成長，我們對這些市場、這些土地的狀況非常有信心。因此，在宏觀經濟環境好轉的情況下，我們確實可以提高市場佔有率。

Okay. That's helpful. And then kind of working off of that question, let's talk about the 22.5% to 23.5% sort of longer-term target margin. I mean, in our view, and maybe for lack of a better term, it seems like the building blocks are there. I mean, you guys have size. You have the leverage with suppliers. You have a streamlined portfolio. The amortization expense is lower.

好的。那很有幫助。然後，就從這個問題出發，我們來談談 22.5% 到 23.5% 的長期目標利潤率。我的意思是，在我們看來，或許用一個不太恰當的詞來形容，似乎一切要素都已具備。我的意思是，你們身材都很棒。你對供應商擁有議價能力。您的投資組合精簡且有效率。攤銷費用較低。

And it really feels like the only missing piece is the incentive level. And so to the extent that that consumer confidence improves and incentives are able to come back, I mean, it would appear to us that getting to those 22.5% to 23.5% margins could happen sooner than later. I mean, would you agree or would you push back on that?

感覺唯一缺少的就是激勵機制。因此，隨著消費者信心的改善和激勵措施的恢復，我們認為，達到 22.5% 至 23.5% 的利潤率可能很快就會實現。我的意思是，你會同意還是反對？

No, we would agree. I think the building blocks are exactly what you stated. We have the scale, so we can leverage our cost structure. If we can get back to a solid 4 to 4.5 net sales per month, we'll get the leverage. If we can pull back on incentives just a little bit and get to a more normal incentive environment, I mean, we're a long ways from a normal incentive environment.

不，我們同意。我認為構成要素正如你所說。我們擁有規模優勢，因此可以利用我們的成本結構。如果我們能恢復到每月 4 到 4.5 的穩定淨銷售額，我們就能獲得談判優勢。如果我們能稍微減少一些激勵措施，讓激勵環境更正常一些，我的意思是，我們距離正常的激勵環境還很遠。

So with the combination of lower rates and better consumer psychology, if we can just pull back on our incentives modestly, there's a clear path to get back to our long-term target. And that's really what we're focused on. I think we can continue to control. We can control with our cycle times and our direct costs and try to continue to open up these communities that we believe in to give us the market share opportunity. But we just need the incentive environment to moderate a little bit, and I think we can get back to where our long-term goals are.

因此，在利率降低和消費者心理改善的雙重作用下，如果我們能夠適度減少激勵措施，就能清楚地朝著我們的長期目標邁進。而這正是我們真正關注的重點。我認為我們可以繼續控制局面。我們可以透過控制生產週期和直接成本來提升業績，並努力繼續開拓我們所信賴的社區，從而獲得市場份額的機會。但我們只需要稍微緩和激勵機制，我認為我們就能回到長期目標的軌道上。

Susan Maklari, Goldman Sachs.

蘇珊‧馬克拉里，高盛集團。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. My first question is around the current psychology that buyers have relative to your strategy. With the ability to close within 60 days, do you think that they are leaning more into your homes, your products? Do you think you're essentially gaining share with this strategy in this kind of an environment? And if so, who do you think you're taking that from? How do you think about it relative to your peers on the new home side relative to existing home sales?

謝謝。各位早安。我的第一個問題是關於買家目前對你們策略的心理看法。60天內即可完成交易，您認為他們會更傾向於購買您的房屋或產品嗎？你認為在這種環境下，採用這種策略是否真的能提升市場佔有率？如果真是這樣，你覺得你是從誰那裡學來的？與同行相比，您在新房銷售和二手房銷售方面有何看法？

Yes. Thanks, Susan. I mean, I think 3.8 net sales per month in Q3 is a pretty strong number, especially since a lot of the new communities we opened, we didn't open until late in the quarter. So we actually sort of did better than that if you really look at -- kind of adjust for that. So I think that's a pretty strong number when I look across the industry and what others are accomplishing.

是的。謝謝你，蘇珊。我的意思是，我認為第三季每月 3.8 的淨銷售額是一個相當不錯的數字，尤其考慮到我們許多新社區都是在本季末才開業的。所以，如果你仔細看看——稍微調整一下——就會發現，我們其實做得比這要好一些。所以我覺得，縱觀整個產業以及其他公司的成就，這個數字相當不錯。

And I think we're absolutely taking that market share from the existing home market. I think as resale has remained sort of bottled up because of the lock-in effect and realtors are driving more customers to the new home space, I think they're driving more homes to our product more than anybody else is because we offer that certainty. We offer that closing ready guarantee. The buyer can lock in their rate. They know they're going to close their home and they're getting a great affordable product that's really well built. So I think we're taking market share from the existing home market.

我認為我們絕對會從現有住宅市場奪取那部分市場份額。我認為，由於鎖定效應，二手房市場一直處於停滯狀態，房地產經紀人正將更多客戶推向新房市場，我認為他們比其他任何人都更能吸引客戶購買我們的產品，因為我們提供了這種確定性。我們提供成交準備就緒的保證。買家可以鎖定價格。他們知道自己即將關閉房屋，而且他們買到的是一款物美價廉、品質優良的產品。所以我認為我們正在從現有住宅市場搶佔市場份額。

I would say that as you look at the overall industry this year based on what other people are projecting, it's going to shrink. And in my mind, based on what we're guiding, we're not shrinking as much as the overall sector. I think we're taking that market share from other affordable builders, and we're taking that market share from the existing home market.

我認為，根據其他人的預測，今年整個產業將會萎縮。在我看來，根據我們目前的指導方針，我們的萎縮幅度並沒有整個產業那麼大。我認為我們正在從其他經濟適用房建築商那裡搶佔市場份額，也從現有房屋市場搶佔市場份額。

Yes, okay. And then turning to the cost structure, you've done a nice job of working with your suppliers to find improvements in there and savings. In this kind of an environment and with the growth that you have already seen in the business over the last couple of years, can you talk about your ability to recognize further savings and what that could mean in the coming quarters?

好的。然後，在成本結構方面，你們與供應商合作，在尋找改進和節省成本方面做得很好。在這種環境下，鑑於過去幾年公司業務已經取得的成長，您能否談談您進一步節省成本的能力，以及這在未來幾季可能意味著什麼？

I mean, I would -- well, first I would say I think we've done a really nice job pulling back our costs. You look at the savings our teams have accomplished over the last four quarters, frankly, it's pretty remarkable. And it's actually put us -- it hasn't completely kept us -- allowed us to overcome the incentive environment, but it's kept us a lot closer than we would have been if we didn't do it.

我的意思是，首先我想說，我認為我們在降低成本方面做得非常出色。坦白說，看看我們團隊在過去四個季度所取得的節約成果，真是令人矚目。實際上，它讓我們——雖然沒有完全阻止我們——克服了激勵環境，但它讓我們比不這樣做時更加團結。

And if you look at our new starts that are going out, they're meaningfully lower cost than what our starts were going out a year ago. Same thing with our cycle times. Our ability to build homes as quickly as we are allows us to pull back on the amount of specs we're building and really helps us optimize our strategy. So those have been incredible efforts that have set us up to really accomplish the results that we are accomplishing right now.

如果你看看我們新推出的產品，你會發現它們的成本比一年前推出的產品低很多。我們的周期時間也存在著同樣的問題。我們能夠如此快速地建造房屋，這使我們能夠減少正在建造的樣品屋數量，並真正幫助我們優化策略。因此，正是這些巨大的努力，才讓我們能夠達到現在所取得的成就。

As I look out into the future, you have some things that I think could benefit us and continue to allow us to extract some costs and cycle times. But you also have things out there that are a little concerning. So I'm not sure I'm ready to say that I think there's opportunity. Obviously, there's a lot of capacity in the market right now. With people pulling back on starts and multifamily slowing down, labor seems available. And they think with us continuing to lean into our 100% spec strategy, we're capturing that labor.

展望未來，我認為你們的一些做法可能會對我們有利，並能繼續幫助我們降低成本和縮短週期時間。但同時也有一些令人擔憂的事情發生。所以我還不確定是否應該說我認為有機會。顯然，目前市場上的產能非常充足。由於人們減少新項目開工，多戶住宅項目放緩，勞動力似乎供應充足。他們認為，隨著我們繼續推行 100% 投機性生產策略，我們將獲得這些勞動力。

They want to build our homes. They want to be on our sites. We're offering them production. So there may be some opportunity there given our strategy. And then given the fact that we're very streamlined on the purchasing side, if there are tariffs that come through, our main suppliers have ways to pull through other product lines into our portfolio that can help us mitigate anything that's happening on the tariff side.

他們想幫我們蓋房子。他們想出現在我們的網站上。我們向他們提供生產服務。所以，根據我們的策略，這方面或許存在一些機會。而且，鑑於我們在採購方面非常精簡，如果出現關稅，我們的主要供應商有辦法將其他產品線納入我們的產品組合，以幫助我們減輕關稅方面可能造成的任何影響。

But there also are some indications that tariffs are going to impact costs in 2026, so those could go the other way. And then obviously you have immigration issues that are happening throughout the United States that could affect labor. So it's hard, honestly, to say whether it's going to get better or worse where I sit today, but I'm really proud of what the team has accomplished, and I think we can absolutely hold the line where we are right now.

但也有跡象表明，關稅將在 2026 年影響成本，因此情況可能會朝著相反的方向發展。顯然，美國各地仍存在移民問題，這些問題可能會影響勞動市場。說實話，我現在很難說情況是會好轉還是惡化，但我為團隊的成就感到非常自豪，而且我認為我們絕對可以守住目前的局面。

I think, as we mentioned in our remarks, we're always going to push for more because we want more, but the real opportunities are going to manifest themselves once the newer land vintage comes through as we're working to negotiate land development contracts or renegotiate land development contracts and maybe see some slight savings in the land market.

我認為，正如我們在演講中提到的，我們會一直爭取更多，因為我們想要更多，但真正的機會將在新一批土地出現後顯現，屆時我們將努力談判土地開發合同或重新談判土地開發合同，並可能在土地市場上看到一些小小的節省。

So it's going to be a little bit of a longer timeline until those become visible in the P&L, but I think that the kind of more material round of opportunities really lay on the land -- land development side, although we are still going to push on the purchasing side. We're at a pretty low cost right now, so not sure there's something very, very material on that front.

因此，這些收益還需要一段時間才能在損益表中體現出來，但我認為，更實質的機會真正在於土地——土地開發方面，儘管我們仍將繼續推進收購方面。我們目前的成本相當低，所以不太確定這方面是否有非常實質的問題。

Rafe Jadrosich, Bank of America.

Rafe Jadrosich，美國銀行。

Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. Can you talk about the lot inflation that you're seeing today, and if there's any visibility going forward, how that should trend? I know you're saying that the costs start to come down as we go in the out years. But just relative to where it is today, what's the expectation for '26?

你好。謝謝您回答我的問題。您能否談談目前觀察到的地塊通膨問題，以及未來的發展趨勢（如果有的話）？我知道你的意思是，隨著時間的推移，成本會逐漸下降。但就目前的情況而言，人們對 2026 年的預期如何？

Yes, we're not providing that level of guidance on lot cost inflation or the land inflation, especially because we're not providing any 2026 guidance just quite yet. I don't think that we're any different than our peers. I think everyone said that what you're seeing is going to continue or maybe get even a little bit worse as you tip into 2026. And then hopefully, we'll all start seeing the improvement in the lot cost starting in '27 and then more meaningfully into '28.

是的，我們目前不會對地塊成本上漲或土地價格上漲做出明確預測，尤其是我們目前還沒有對 2026 年做出任何預測。我不認為我們和同齡人有什麼不同。我認為大家都認為，隨著進入 2026 年，你現在看到的情況將會持續下去，甚至可能會變得更糟。然後，希望從 2027 年開始，我們都能開始看到地價下降，並在 2028 年看到更顯著的下降。

Obviously, a huge piece of that is a function of the incentive environment, right? A lot is a percentage of the total revenue, even though obviously it has an absolute cost on its own. But we're not prepared to provide any specific guidance on lot costs, but I would say we're not an outlier from what our peers are experiencing.

顯然，這很大程度上取決於激勵環境，對吧？雖然很多東西本身也有絕對成本，但它們只是總收入的一個百分比。但我們目前不準備就地塊成本提供任何具體指導，但我認為我們的情況與同行們遇到的情況並無二致。

Okay, and then I think the midpoint of the revenue guidance implies that delivery ASP is up sequentially from what you did this quarter, and then the orders are sort of more flattish. Can you just talk about, one, where the delivery ASP has been coming in the last couple of quarters? It's been a little bit below guidance. Is that just incentive and discounting environment? And then what's driving that improvement as we go into the fourth quarter?

好的，我認為營收預期中位數表明，配送平均售價較本季有所上漲，而訂單量則相對平穩。您能否談談，第一，過去幾季交付的平均售價（ASP）變化情況？略低於預期。那隻是激勵和折扣環境嗎？那麼，進入第四季後，是什麼因素推動了這種改善？

Yes, so where revenue and ASPs have missed the midpoint of our guidance over the last few quarters has absolutely 100% been incentives. So just incremental incentives that we had to offer throughout the quarter to achieve the absorptions we were targeting. And then as we look into Q4, the higher delivery number is just built off of our community count growth. So that's really what's driving that.

是的，過去幾個季度營收和平均售價未能達到我們預期的中點，這絕對是激勵措施造成的。因此，為了實現我們預期的吸收目標，我們不得不在整個季度內逐步提供各種激勵措施。然後，當我們展望第四季時，更高的交付量僅僅是建立在我們社區數量成長的基礎上的。這才是真正的驅動因素。

And any change in ASP is driven by the mix of the communities that we're opening up and closing homes in versus our prior mix. But we're not assuming much more incentive load a little bit more because of what Hilla said. Year end, a lot of builders are pretty aggressive during the non-seasonal time of home buying. So there's a little bit of that. But most of it's just driven by the mix and the incremental volume you should get from our community count growth.

ASP 的任何變化都是由我們正在開放和關閉房屋的社區組合與先前的組合相比所驅動的。但我們不會因為希拉所說的話就假設會有更大的激勵措施。年底，許多建築商在購屋淡季期間都非常積極地推出促銷活動。所以這方面有點影響。但大部分成長都取決於產品組合以及社群數量成長帶來的增量銷售。

Jade Rahmani, KBW.

Jade Rahmani，KBW。

Thank you very much. Can you comment on how existing home inventory is trending in your markets and if you're experiencing any increased competition and if the 60-day guarantee is helping to offset if you're getting uptake from that?

非常感謝。您能否談談您所在市場的現有房屋庫存趨勢，以及您是否面臨日益激烈的競爭，以及60天保證是否有助於抵消由此帶來的銷售成長？

Yes. I think consistent with what others have said, certainly, there's more inventory in the market than there was a year ago. I think there are specific markets out there where we would say it's more relevant than others. But then I would also say, as I said in my prepared remarks, really, when we see the existing home inventory increase in our markets, it's not very competitive. It's older homes. It's not as affordable. It's not in our price range. They're not offering the incentives that we are from a rate buy-down perspective. So we don't really feel like it's extremely competitive.

是的。我認為，正如其他人所說，市場上的庫存肯定比一年前要多。我認為在某些特定市場，它比其他市場更具相關性。但正如我在準備好的演講稿中所說，實際上，當我們看到市場上現有房屋庫存增加時，競爭並不激烈。都是些老房子。它沒那麼實惠。它超出了我們的預算範圍。從利率補貼的角度來看，他們提供的優惠力道不如我們。所以我們不覺得競爭非常激烈。

And then, yes, our strategy is 100% built on competing when that inventory comes back. We are offering a new home exactly the way you can buy a used home, but you don't have to make the compromise. So we do believe as that inventory comes back, we're going to be leaning even harder into our strategy around the move-in ready home, the closing ready guarantee, and our realtor strategy to make sure we're competing with that existing home inventory head on.

是的，我們的策略完全建立在庫存重新到貨時展開競爭的基礎上。我們提供的新房購買方式與二手房購買方式完全相同，但您無需做出任何妥協。因此我們相信，隨著庫存的恢復，我們將更加重視我們的「拎包入住房屋」、「交屋保證」和房地產經紀人策略，以確保我們能夠與現有的房屋庫存正面競爭。

Thanks. In terms of the market commentary you provided, I don't think I heard Phoenix. Could you give an update on that market, please? Thank you.

謝謝。就你提供的市場評論而言，我好像沒聽到鳳凰城的消息。請問您能否介紹一下那個市場的最新狀況？謝謝。

Yes. We're hanging in there in Arizona. The economy is doing really well here. There's a lot of jobs being created here. And there's a real diverse set of jobs that are coming into the market. Obviously, the semiconductor business is growing really fast here. So the economy is strong. Quality life is strong.

是的。我們在亞利桑那州堅持了下來。這裡的經濟狀況非常好。這裡創造了很多就業機會。市場上湧現各種各樣的工作。顯然，這裡的半導體產業發展非常迅速。所以經濟情勢良好。優質生活勢頭強勁。

It's very competitive. Affordability is really critical here. We're seeing one of the more competitive environments from our other peers as it relates to competing. So although there's strong demand environment and I think supply is manageable, the margin compression is significant in Phoenix due to the incentives and the affordability that we're trying to solve.

競爭非常激烈。價格承受能力在這裡至關重要。就競爭而言，我們看到了與其他同行相比更具競爭性的環境之一。因此，儘管需求環境強勁，而且我認為供應是可控的，但由於我們正在努力解決的激勵措施和可負擔性問題，鳳凰城的利潤率壓縮幅度很大。

Jay McCanless, Wedbush Securities.

Jay McCanless，Wedbush Securities。

Hey, thanks for taking my questions. Just a quick one for me. Thinking ahead to '26, and when you guys lined up the new strategy, you talked about how it would have little abnormal seasonality. Is that what you're still expecting for next year? And just to let the community count drive the volume growth, is that how we should think about it and not really worry about what normal seasonality used to be for your business?

嘿，謝謝你回答我的問題。我只需要簡單回答一下。展望 2026 年，當你們制定新策略時，你們談到它幾乎不會受到異常季節性的影響。你對明年仍然抱持這樣的期望嗎？僅僅讓社群數量來驅動銷售成長，我們是否應該這樣考慮，而不必真正擔心貴公司以往正常的季節性波動？

Yes, I think what you're referring to is we're talking a little bit about the cadence of our business. So traditionally, when you're a move-up builder and you have longer cycle times, Q1 is traditionally a lower-leverage quarter, Q2 is slightly better, and then Q3 and Q4 are when you really close all the homes that you sell in the spring. Since we're selling homes real time, we really feel like Q3 is our lowest-leverage quarter, and then Q1 and Q2 are actually much stronger, with Q4 being in the middle. So I would expect to see a similar pattern.

是的，我想你指的是我們正在討論我們業務的節奏。因此，傳統上，對於改善型住宅開發商而言，由於週期較長，第一季通常是槓桿率較低的季度，第二季度略好一些，而第三季度和第四季度則是真正完成所有春季售房交易的季度。由於我們正在即時銷售房屋，我們感覺第三季度是我們槓桿率最低的季度，而第一季和第二季度實際上要強勁得多，第四季度則處於中間水平。所以我預計會看到類似的模式。

But that all being said, we have significant community account growth and more coming for next year, which will sort of mute some of that because of the increased store count that we have that's going to increase our volume as long as the market stays consistent. That's what you should look for. Again, I think Q1 and Q2 are going to be higher margin quarters for us as long as the spring selling season is there, with Q2 and Q3 being modestly lower.

但即便如此，我們的社群帳戶數量仍實現了顯著成長，明年還將有更多成長，這將在一定程度上緩解上述問題，因為我們門市數量的增加將提高我們的銷量，只要市場保持穩定。這就是你應該尋找的東西。我再次認為，只要春季銷售旺季持續，第一季和第二季的利潤率就會較高，而第二季和第三季的利潤率會略低一些。

So just to clarify, Jay, nothing's really changed on -- we don't change market dynamics. The net sales per store don't change from where they've always been. It's just how quickly do we get those closings into the financial statements. So that's really the cadence. And I think that that's what you were referencing, but I just wanted to clarify.

所以，傑伊，我澄清一下，實際上什麼都沒變——我們不會改變市場動態。每家門市的淨銷售額與以往相比沒有變化。關鍵在於我們如何盡快將這些交易納入財務報表。這就是節奏。我想你指的就是這個，但我還是想確認一下。

Yes, absolutely. And then could you talk about when the community count is expected to hit? Make sure that it can be front half loaded or what have you all said about that?

是的，絕對的。那麼，您能否談談社區人口數量預計何時達到目標？確保它可以前半部裝載，或者你們之前是怎麼說的？

We're not guiding to 2026 yet, and Q1 will give you some more visibility. I think we want another quarter to make sure that the cities do what they said they're going to do and the development's happening the way it's happening. But as we said, we're very confident that we're going to have another double-digit year of growth in community count next year in the aggregate of what we accomplished this year.

我們目前尚未對 2026 年做出預測，第一季將提供更清晰的展望。我認為我們需要再過一個季度，以確保各城市履行其承諾，並確保發展按計劃進行。但正如我們所說，我們非常有信心，明年社區數量總和將再次實現兩位數增長，這是在今年成就的基礎上實現的。

Thank you, operator. I'd like to thank everyone who joined the call today for their continued interest in Meritage Homes. We hope you have a great rest of the day and a great rest of the week. Thank you.

謝謝接線生。我要感謝今天參加電話會議的各位，感謝你們一直以來對 Meritage Homes 的關注。祝您今天餘下的時間以及本週餘下的時間都過得愉快。謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This does conclude today's teleconference. We appreciate your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，感謝各位的參與。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線了。