While some big blue chip stocks revealed lackluster results for the third quarter, homebuilders and home construction-related ETFs climbed on strong earnings and forward guidance.
On Tuesday, the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSEArca: XHB) rose 1.8% and iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (NYSEArca: ITB) gained 2.6%, exhibiting a rare respite from the back-to-back sell-off in recent weeks.
Bolstering the home construction sector, PulteGroup (etftrends.com/quote/PHM) revealed a better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.01 per share, compared to the $0.60 per share a year ago for the same period.
“Consistent with our stated strategies, PulteGroup continues to successfully deliver strong earnings growth, while achieving high returns on invested capital and equity,” Company President and CEO, Ryan Marshall, said in a note. “By focusing on intelligently growing our business, while realizing increased operating efficiencies, we leveraged 25% growth in homebuilding revenues into a 74% gain in earnings to $1.01 per share.”
PHM shares jumped 8.8% on the favorable third quarter results.
Furthermore, the No. 3 U.S. homebuilder raised its fourth-quarter projections and eased concerns that rising mortgage rates would harm homebuyers’ affordability or pressure the company’s bottom line.