Beazer Homes Misses But Gains

Upscale U.S. homebuilder Beazer Homes USA (BZH) reported third quarter (ended June) earnings of -$2.85 per share, missing the Zacks consensus estimate of -$2.66 per share by around 7 percent.  Thus far in today's trading, however, BZH shares are up 28 cents, or around 4.7 percent.

This is likely because of the silver lining that comes attached with the earnings miss: a year ago, Beazer reported a loss of -$3.09 per share.  Also, much of the loss was due to a $95.5 million charge relating to the company backing away from new land option contracts.  So the perception could be that homebuilders like Beazer might have weathered the worst of the mortgage crisis storm.

That said, things are less than rosy looking ahead.  According to an AP report this morning, Beazer's average selling price per new home has fallen nearly 9 percent, from around $282K to roughly $257K.  Further, new home orders are reportedly down almost 42 percent.

Read the full analyst report on BZH