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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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Homebuilders Surge on Wall Street

Homebuilders Standard Pacific Corp. and William Lyon Homes Inc. saw their shares surge early Friday, fueled in part by strong Standard earnings earlier in the week and continued optimism about the housing market.

Irvine-based Standard’s stock was up more than 5% in early Friday trading. William Lyon Homes of Newport Beach saw its shares surge 8%.

On Wednesday, Standard posted a 74% gain to $139 million in fourth-quarter profits, beating analysts estimates. Revenue rose 46% to $1.2 billion.

Standard also reported higher gross margins and orders for new homes.

The strong results come despite a falloff in Orange County and the rest of Southern California for Standard and other homebuilders. The market has been a key driver of growth and profits for Standard and others.

But high prices and fewer developments to build it have slowed things locally for homebuilders.

Arizona, Florida and even a resurgent Northern California now are driving growth for Standard.

“In only our third full year in Florida, we are projecting to deliver 3,800 homes, a 62% increase over the 2004 delivery total,” Chief Executive Stephen Scarborough said. “In addition, Florida is expected to surpass California as our single largest state based on unit volume.”

Earlier this month, William Lyon Homes reported record closings of home sales for 2004. The company sold 3,471 new homes, up 24% from a year earlier.

But the company, which is more reliant on California than Standard, saw orders for new homes fall 35% in the fourth quarter.

But shares of William Lyon Homes have soared just the same, helped in part by a big stock buy recently by Chief Executive William Lyon.

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