Latest news with #Mezger
Top Gear
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Someone's just paid $800k over the list price for this Singer DLS
Someone's just paid $800k over the list price for this Singer DLS Three years on, the daddy of all 911 restomods is now a $3m car. Still think Singers are overpriced? Skip 20 photos in the image carousel and continue reading Turn on Javascript to see all the available pictures. 1 / 20 When Singer launched its Design and Lightweighting Study (DLS) a few years back, it pre-sold each of the 75 examples before the first client car even debuted. This foreshadowed spectacular inflation for the DLS, as is now evidenced by this Bring a Trailer auction. Yep, someone has just paid $3m (about £2.2m) for a car that cost $2.2m three years ago. So in TG maths, that's roughly... £600k earned by doing absolutely nothing. Advertisement - Page continues below Literally, because it's racked up an extra one mile over the last year for a total odometer readout of… 18. If you completed the London Marathon a couple of months back, well done: you officially covered more ground in that single day than this thing has in its entire (second) life. Anyway, about the DLS. This is chassis #73, and its underpinnings are from a 1991-reg 964-generation Carrera… sort of. Because while the odd nut and bolt might be the same, most of the mechanical elements have been cranked right up to 11. That Mezger-built, air-cooled, nat-asp flat-six sounds savage through the Inconel-titanium exhaust toward a 9.3k redline, and cooks up a soundtrack akin to Zeus opening the heavens above. Its numbers are strong: around 500bhp, 0-62mph in the late threes and a predicted top speed of 210mph. And all that's achieved using a good old six-speed Hewland manual. It's not just about brute force either. The DLS' chassis and subframes are 60 per cent stiffer than stock, the whole car squats 20mm lower to the ground than a standard 964, and there's a 40mm FIA-grade roll cage hidden beneath its carbon-clad body. Advertisement - Page continues below All this makes for a sub-1.1-tonne vehicle that'll put on a more precise sequence of dances than Channing Tatum in Step Up, thanks also to the Michelin rubber and Brembo brakes. READ MORE Porsche 911 reimagined by Singer: Classic Turbo review Chassis #73 also gets some tasteful touches, like staggered 18in forged magnesium alloys, blue leather Recaro carbon seats with tartan inserts, plus 18-karat gold trim along the rev counter. That's on top of one main characteristic that draws people to the DLS: it looks like an old 911, but one that's sautéed with a few subtle modern cues. All of which begs the question… are Singer's cars actually massively underpriced? Top Gear Newsletter Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. Success Your Email*
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Homebuilders face 'muted' spring selling season amid high mortgage rates, tariff uncertainty
Homebuilders are having a rough start to the spring selling season amid high mortgage rates and tariff uncertainty. On Monday, KB Home (KBH) reported a 17% drop in net orders from the year-earlier period for its fiscal first quarter ending Feb. 28. The company also dialed down its average selling price range for 2025 to $480,000 to $495,000. In January, it expected a range of $488,000 to $498,000. Shares of KBH fell 4% in after-hours trading following the earnings report. "While longer-term housing market conditions remain favorable, driven by demographics and an undersupply of homes, demand at the start of the spring selling season has been more muted than we have seen over the past few years," KB Home CEO Jeffrey Mezger told analysts and investors on the earnings call. Many real estate agents and builders consider Super Bowl weekend, which landed on Feb. 8-9 of this year, to be the unofficial kickoff for the peak homebuying and selling season, which lasts through early June. Read more: 2025 housing market — is this a good time to buy a house? Mezger noted that the company typically sees a pickup in net orders in late January and early February. This season, that did not materialize, reflecting the hesitancy among buyers to purchase a home. As a result, KBH lowered its guidance for 2025 housing sales to $6.60 billion to $7 billion from its previous forecast of $7 billion to $7.5 billion. Overall, sales of new single-family homes rebounded slightly in February amid warmer weather and falling mortgage rates. But it's unclear if the momentum will last. "If the builders can figure out what leverage to pull from an affordability standpoint, the buyers and the demand are out there, but it's not going to be as easy as it was," Wedbush Securities senior vice president of equity research Jay McCanless told Yahoo Finance in an interview. This challenge is not unique to KB Home. The second-largest homebuilder, Lennar, reported a slight 1% increase in net new orders from the year-earlier period, totaling 18,355. However, the company projected lower-than-expected quarterly orders due to the tough housing market. When it reported Q1 results last week, Lennar (LEN) forecast new orders between 22,500 and 23,500 for its second fiscal quarter, lower than analysts' estimate of 23,800 homes. While mortgage rates have decreased slightly, they are still hovering around 6.7%, prompting the builder to reduce its average sales price, after incentives, to $408,000 in the quarter, marking a 1% decline from last year. "During the quarter, as we move past the beginning of February, we do not see the seasonal pickup typically associated with the beginning of the spring selling season," Lennar CEO Jonathan Jaffe told analysts and investors on the earnings call. Consequently, Evercore ISI analyst Stephen Kim downgraded Lennar to In Line from Outperform, with a price target of $131, down from $159, following the fiscal first quarter report. The downgrade was driven by the second quarter gross margin guidance of 18%, which fell below expectations, with management attributing the decline to increased incentives compared to the first quarter. Evercore ISI argues that Lennar's strategy to sustain incentive volume will result in its profitability "at dramatically depressed levels," Kim wrote. To address affordability, builders may need to adjust home sizes, limit options, or "find other ways to skinny the price," McCanless said. For example, they might replace more extensive home plans with smaller ones, such as swapping 2,500-2,600-square-foot plans for 1,700-1,800-square-foot alternatives. Another concern for builders is President Trump's executive order, effective in April, imposing tariffs on construction materials from Canada and Mexico. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) warns that this could raise the cost of imported materials by over $3 billion, with builders estimating an average rise of $9,200 per home. This growing pressure is contributing to increased uncertainty among smaller builders, who are becoming concerned about the housing market's outlook. Read more: The latest news and updates on Trump's tariffs Wolfe Research highlighted this concern in its recent survey of private builders, noting that while orders increased by about 22% month over month in January, this growth was well below the typical 39% average seen in recent years. Smaller builders' confidence also took a hit in February, reflecting a three-point drop from January to its lowest level in seven months. "At this point, for them to be able to drive much better demand without sacrificing margin, it's going to likely have to come in the form of lower mortgage rates or people regaining their confidence in the macroenvironment and in their employment situation, which both those parts are really out of builder's hands," Trevor Allinson, director and senior research analyst at Wolfe Research, told Yahoo Finance. D.R. Horton (DHI), the nation's biggest homebuilder, is slated to report its fiscal second quarter earnings on April 17. Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @daniromerotv. Sign in to access your portfolio
Miami Herald
26-03-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Analysts reboot KB Home stock price target after earnings
The worst is yet to come. We admit that's not a good way to kick things off, but right now little in the way of happy talk is coming from the housing sector. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter The U.S. housing market remains stuck in a rut that could extend well into next year, constrained by a lack of new homes and stagnant mortgage rates, TheStreet's Martin Baccardax reports. Bret Jensen said in his TheStreet Pro column that while equity markets have stabilized over the past three trading sessions and stocks began the week with a huge rally, worrying economic reports are increasing. "I am especially concerned when it comes to real estate," the investment strategist said. "Delinquency rates on commercial real estate loans have been moving significantly higher for some time now." The situation in residential real estate is also deteriorating, Jensen said. Existing-home sales for both 2023 and 2024 both came in at their lowest levels since 1995. "The most disturbing part of the new-home-sales report was that new-home inventory has now surged to nearly nine months' supply," he said. "Prior to the pandemic, there was less than a six-month supply of new homes. "This fell to just over three months during the summer of 2020 as the Covid outbreak spread fully across the nation," he added. Potential new tariffs from the Trump administration on Canadian lumber are just the latest of a litany of headwinds the industry faces, Jensen said, and "things are also likely to get worse before the sector eventually bottoms." He said that the current weakness can be seen in the commentary after national homebuilder KB Home (KBH) reported first-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street's expectations. More Real Estate: Barbara Corcoran says now is the 'right time to buy' a homeScott Galloway has 6-word response to mortgage, rent, home crisisMortgage rates drop but buyers still skeptical of housing market The Los Angeles company's net income dropped 21.5% and revenue was off by 5%, both from a year earlier. Net orders of 2,772 were down 17%, contributing to a drop in the backlog - homes that haven't yet been completed or delivered - to 4,436. Ending backlog value declined 21% to $2.2 billion. "Consumers are continuing to cope with affordability concerns and uncertainties around macroeconomic and geopolitical events," Chairman and Chief Executive Jeff Mezger told analysts. "As a result, consumer confidence has declined sequentially each month for the past several months, and homebuyers are moving more slowly in making their purchase decisions," he said during the company's earnings call. While longer-term housing market conditions remain favorable, driven by demographics and an undersupply of homes, Mezger said, "demand at the start of the spring selling season has been more muted than we have seen over the past few years. "As a result of this softer selling environment, we are lowering our revenue guidance for fiscal 2025," Mezger said. Rob McGibney, KB Home's president and chief operating officer, said the 2025 spring selling season started slower than in previous years, "reflecting a decline in consumer confidence as consumers processed the variables relating to macroeconomic and geopolitical issues." "This decline in confidence is leading homebuyers to take longer to make their purchase decisions," he said. Investment firms adjusted their price targets for KB Home following the earnings release. Barclays analyst Matthew Bouley lowered the firm's price target on KB Home to $56 from $60 and kept an equal weight rating on the shares, according to The Fly. Related: Housing market stuck as mortgage rates, tariffs and uncertainty jam buyers Q1 orders came in well below consensus, and its implied second-half ramp up of margins "could be optimistic," the analyst said. Bouley said KB's fiscal 2025 revenue and margin guidance were lowered as spring "underwhelms" and the company cuts base prices to generate traffic. Wells Fargo analyst Sam Reid said he had expected KB Home to guide down, which it did, with cuts to deliveries, average selling price, gross margin and operating margin. Reid pared the investment firm's price target on KB Home to $57 from $63 while affirming an underweight rating on the shares. The stock is indicated lower, but Reid said he was not sure this represented a buying opportunity. Bank of America Securities cut the firm's price target on KB Home to $62 from $67 and kept a neutral rating on the shares. Following the quarterly report, the investment firm lowered its fiscal 2025 earnings estimates about 7% to reflect lower orders and revenue. "On the positive side, we view KBH as a well-positioned builder given its high exposure to first-time homebuyers and improving return on equity," B of A said. "However, [the] shares are fairly valued at current levels." Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
