What happened
Shares of Green Brick Partners (GRBK 4.21%) are surging today, up by 19.5% as of 11:22 a.m. ET after the homebuilder reported blowout earnings results for the first quarter of the year.
So what
Green Brick posted diluted earnings per share of $1.37 on total revenue of more than $452 million, which significantly beat consensus estimates by $0.71 and $170 million, respectively.
Co-founder and CEO Jim Brickman said in an statement:
We are pleased to report that Green Brick kicked off 2023 with the best first quarter results in our history. We delivered 761 homes which was a record for any first quarter. Home closings revenue increased 24% year-over-year to $449 million. We were able to sustain a high homebuilding gross margin of 27.6%, which was one of the highest among public homebuilders in the first quarter and is up 140 [basis points] sequentially.
Perhaps even better is that the company continues to see strong momentum. Trailing-12-month orders for new homes hit 2,439 in the first quarter, which is way up from the end of the year and at the highest level seen over the last year.
Now what
Green Brick has been absolutely rolling and the stock is now up a whopping 79% in 2023, with the company really outperforming peers on most metrics.
Green Brick has an advantage because it operates in fast-growing markets like Texas, Georgia, and Florida. Plus, the homebuilder owns a lot of the land it develops. The well-known hedge fund manager David Einhorn and his firm Greenlight Capital also own more than 38% of the company.
I owned Green Brick shares last year but apparently sold too early and will certainly be taking another look after what has been an exceptional year for the stock.
