Russ Devendorf
Analyst · JPMorgan
Thanks, Greg, and good morning. I'll highlight our results for the first quarter and then conclude my remarks with an update on what we are seeing so far this year and our outlook for the second quarter. We finished the first quarter with $206.4 million in revenue on 624 closings at the high end of our guidance range with an average sales price of $331,000. Our home closings gross margin was 19.6% on a GAAP basis and adjusted home closing gross margin was 20.3%, which adds back impairments, interest and cost of sales and purchase accounting adjustments. During the quarter, gross margin benefited by 170 basis points from the reduction of land development accruals on the closeout of several communities. Our margins continue to reflect the use of incentives and targeted pricing adjustments to support affordability and maintain sales pace. During the quarter, closing costs, price discounts and the cost of forward commitments totaled 730 basis points, which compared to 430 basis points in the year ago period and 680 basis points sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2025. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter were $35.9 million or approximately 17.4% of revenue, up $2.9 million compared to the same period last year, reflecting continued investment on our growth markets as well as the impact of lower average sales price. Pretax income for the quarter was $4.3 million, resulting in net income of $0.06 per share. Given the nature of our Up-C organizational structure, our reported net income reflects the allocation of earnings between Smith Douglas Homes Corp. and the noncontrolling interest of Smith Douglas Holdings LLC. Because a significant portion of our earnings is attributable to LLC members and not taxed at the corporate level, the income tax impact reflected in our financial statements can differ from more traditional C corporations. For that reason, we also present adjusted net income, which assumes a blended federal and state effective tax rate of 26.6% as if we operated as a fully public C corporation, which we believe provides a more meaningful comparison to peers. For the quarter, adjusted net income was $3.2 million compared to $14.7 million in the same period last year. Turning to orders. We generated 981 net new home orders during the quarter, an increase of 28% versus the year ago period. We ended the quarter with 869 homes in backlog with an average sales price of $332,000. In addition to backlog, we also had 42 home reservations at the end of the quarter. These reservations allow our buyers to take advantage of buying a built-to-order home while also benefiting from a guaranteed mortgage rate when they close. We expect most of these reservations to convert to new home orders in the second quarter. Turning to the balance sheet. We remain in a strong financial position. We ended the quarter with $28 million of cash and $68.5 million of total debt with approximately $195 million available under our revolving credit facility. Our debt-to-book capitalization was 13.6% and net debt to net book capitalization was 8.5%, reflecting our continued conservative approach to leverage. Our land-light strategy remains a core component of our operating model with the majority of our lots controlled through option agreements, allowing us to maintain flexibility and deploy capital efficiently. As Greg previously mentioned and I explained on our fourth quarter call, I want to reiterate that our pace over price philosophy continues to guide how we manage the business. In the current environment, our focus remains on maintaining absorption and inventory turns even if that requires some pressure on margins in the short term. We believe maintaining sales pace allows us to preserve market share, generate cash flow and continue investing in our community pipeline, which ultimately drives scale and stronger returns over the full housing cycle. From a broader macro perspective, the housing market continues to operate in a challenging environment, driven primarily by affordability pressures and elevated mortgage rates. Recent economic data has been mixed and geopolitical developments continue to contribute to uncertainty. We are also monitoring labor market trends closely as employment remains a key driver of housing demand. Our capital allocation priorities remain unchanged. We will continue to prioritize investing in our land pipeline and community growth while maintaining a conservative balance sheet, and we will also remain opportunistic with share repurchases. During the first quarter, we began executing on our share repurchase authorization and continue to repurchase shares into the second quarter. Including repurchases completed in April, we have repurchased approximately $10 million of stock at an average price of $13.28 per share. We believe these repurchases represent an attractive and disciplined use of capital without limiting the financial flexibility to support our long-term growth strategy. For the second quarter, we currently expect closings between 725 and 800 homes, average sales price between $325,000 and $330,000 and gross margin between 17% and 17.5%. Given the continued variability in demand conditions, we are not providing full year guidance at this time. We believe the primary risk to our outlook remain tied to macroeconomic conditions, including mortgage rates, consumer confidence and employment trends. That said, we believe our affordable product offering, land-light strategy and disciplined operating model position us well to continue gaining market share over time. With that, I'll turn the call over to the operator for instructions on Q&A.