XHB - Meritage Homes Reports Record Months as Coronavirus Effect Wanes
Things are finally lining up for the homebuilding sector, at long last. Builders entered this year with a massive supply/demand imbalance after years of underbuilding. The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated some trends that were already in place, and for some builders the last few months have been the best the industry has seen in ages. It is hard to believe that in the middle of a pandemic some companies would be recording near-record level order growth and multi-year highs in margins. Meritage Homes (NYSE: MTH) is an example of one of those builders. Its focus on entry-level home buyers is at the sweet spot of the industry right now, and emerging buyer preferences makes the stock one of the top performers in the homebuilder space.
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Meritage Homes is a builder of single-family homes in historically high-growth locations. The company focuses primarily on entry-level buyers, with a secondary focus on move-up buyers. The company operates in nine states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Meritage Homes is the seventh-largest public homebuilder in the United States, based on homes closed in 2019.