Meritage Homes (MTH) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates

Company Performance - Meritage Homes reported quarterly earnings of $5.34 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of$ 5.05 per share, but down from $5.98 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of 5.74% [1] - The company posted revenues of$ 1.59 billion for the quarter ended September 2024, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.65%, although this is a slight decrease from year-ago revenues of $1.61 billion [2] - Over the last four quarters, Meritage has consistently surpassed consensus EPS estimates [2] Stock Outlook - Meritage shares have increased by approximately 5.9% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P 500 has gained 22.1% [3] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is$ 4.70 on revenues of $1.56 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is$ 21.09 on revenues of $6.3 billion [7] - The estimate revisions trend for Meritage is currently unfavorable, resulting in a Zacks Rank 4 (Sell) for the stock, indicating expected underperformance in the near future [6] Industry Context - The Building Products - Home Builders industry, to which Meritage belongs, is currently ranked in the top 26% of over 250 Zacks industries, suggesting a favorable outlook compared to lower-ranked industries [8] - Empirical research indicates a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, which can be tracked by investors [5]