Beazer Homes Plunges on Q4 Results

Shares of Beazer Homes BZH have been hammered on Monday after the company released its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings results prior to the opening bell. Heading into the closing bell, the stock had lost better than 18 percent to $13.62 with most of the decline coming on an intra-day basis. Beazer opened the session at $15.49. CEO Allan Merrill tried to put a positive spin on the quarter in a statement. He said, "I'm pleased with the significant progress we made in 2012 strengthening both our business and our balance sheet. Operationally, we generated significant growth in orders, closings and backlog, while seeing improving trends in gross margins. From a balance sheet perspective, we added liquidity, improved our book value, extended debt maturities and reduced interest expense." The Atlanta, Georgia-based company reported a net loss of $66.23 million or $2.82 per share, compared to a loss of $43.18 million or $2.91 per share, in the year ago period. The lower loss per share was due to a higher share count in the fourth-quarter. The results were significantly worse than analysts' consensus EPS estimates calling for a loss of $1.22. The results included a loss on early extinguishment of debt of $42.35 million. Total revenues in the period were up to $370.93 million versus $334.91 million in the year ago period. This easily topped analysts' consensus revenue estimates of $335.11 million. New home orders in the period rose 10.3 percent to 1,110. For the full-year, the company posted a loss from continuing operations of $135.62 million or $7.34 per share, versus $200.18 million or $13.53 per share, last year. Analysts had expected the company to post a loss of $5.57 per share for the full-year. Total revenues were $1.01 billion from $742.41 million in last year's full-year period. This compared to Wall Street consensus revenue estimates of $969.27 million for the fiscal year.