Key Highlights

● Meritage Homes shares fell about 3.0% to $62.02 as Treasury yields rose.

● Third-quarter revenue fell to about $1.17 billion, missing analyst estimates.

● Home closings fell 14% year over year as gross margin narrowed.

● The company maintained a conservative balance sheet with no revolver borrowings.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) shares fell about 3.0% on October 28, 2026, closing at $62.02, as rising long-term interest rates weighed on homebuilder stocks during the regular session, ahead of third-quarter results released after the close. The results that followed showed further weakness, with shares declining further in after-hours trading.

Rates Weigh on Homebuilders

The quarter showed the strain of a tougher housing market. Meritage closed 3,187 homes, 14% fewer than a year earlier, with home-closing revenue falling 17% to $1.16 billion and the average closing price slipping 4%. Net earnings dropped 32% to about $68 million, or $1.04 per diluted share, below analyst estimates, as home-closing gross margin contracted by more than a percentage point.

A Miss on Both Lines

Orders fell 15% year over year, with management citing rising mortgage rates and economic uncertainty as headwinds, alongside incentives and rate buy-downs that weighed on margins. The company did not provide numerical full-year guidance alongside the release.

What Meritage Homes Does

Meritage Homes is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based builder focused on entry-level and first move-up single-family homes across the Sun Belt, and has been shifting back toward a built-to-order sales model after leaning more heavily on speculative inventory in recent years.

Volume Pressure Meets a Disciplined Balance Sheet

The balance sheet remained conservative, with $677 million in cash, no borrowings under its credit facility, and continued share repurchases, giving the company flexibility even as near-term profitability comes under pressure from affordability constraints.