Meritage Homes — Jul 29, 2026 release

During the current quarter, we returned $131 million to shareholders via share repurchases and dividends. And while we moderated land spend to $357 million from $509 million in the second quarter of 2025, we are reiterating our prior community count growth expectation of 5-10% year-over-year for full year 2026," concluded Mr. Lord. "We ended the second quarter of 2026 with cash of $807 million, no borrowings under our revolving credit facility and a net debt-to-capital ratio of 17.1%. As of June 30, 2026, our book value per share increased 5% year-over-year." SECOND QUARTER RESULTS • Orders of 3,575 homes for the second quarter of 2026 decreased 9% year-over-year mainly as a result of 19% lower average absorption pace, which was partially offset by a 14% increase in average community count. Second quarter 2026 average sales price ("ASP") on orders of $385,000 was down 3% from the second quarter of 2025, primarily due to geographic mix. • The 14% year-over-year decrease in home closing revenue in the second quarter of 2026 to $1.4 billion was due to 11% lower closing volume of 3,725 homes combined with a 4% decrease in ASP on closings to $373,000. The closing ASP decline was a function of geographic mix. • Home closing gross margin of 18.3% in the second quarter of 2026 was 280 bps lower than 21.1% in the prior year as a result of lost leverage on lower home closing revenue and higher lot costs, which were partially offset by direct cost savings and quicker cycle times