Ticonderoga Securities analyst Stephen East anticipates that PulteGroup’s new home orders will tumble 23 percent and its closings will drop 34 percent.
In the third quarter, the builder’s new home orders slid 12 percent.
While builders such as KB Home and Lennar have posted quarterly profits of late, PulteGroup is expected to post a quarterly loss on hefty charges.
Management has said it would book a restructuring charge in the fourth quarter. East anticipates the builder also will record impairment charges in excess of $50 million.
WHY IT MATTERS: Homebuilders are a bellwether for the housing market and the economy. Each new home built creates, on average, the equivalent of three jobs for a year and generates about $90,000 in taxes paid to local and federal authorities, by some estimates.