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Steven Kim

Research Analyst at Evercore ISI

Stephen Kim is Senior Managing Director and Head of the Housing Research Team at Evercore ISI, specializing in equity research for U.S. homebuilders, building products manufacturers, and related housing markets. He covers major companies such as PulteGroup, Mohawk Industries, and a total of 18 publicly traded firms primarily in the construction and consumer discretionary sectors, maintaining a strong performance track record with a 60.68% success rate and 14.03% average return according to independent analyst platforms. Kim began his career after earning a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School, holding lead analyst positions at Deutsche Bank, Citi, and Barclays Capital before joining Evercore ISI, where he has been ranked No. 1 in Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team for homebuilding and building products every year since 2016 and inducted into the Extel Hall of Fame for consecutive top rankings. Kim's professional credentials include decades of equity research experience; licensing status and FINRA registration are not publicly listed.

Steven Kim's questions to Meritage Homes (MTH) leadership

Question · Q3 2025

Steven Kim sought clarification on the gross margins for new communities, asking if they are expected to be similar to current company averages over the community's entire life or just at opening, given that margins typically rise as a community matures. He also asked for a breakdown of the increase in incentives over recent quarters, specifically how much is attributable to forward purchase commitments versus other types of incentives.

Answer

Phillippe Lord (CEO, Meritage Homes) explained that in the current market, with high discounts and affordability challenges, they don't anticipate significant margin upside through a community's lifespan, modeling new communities to open and perform similar to today's margin profile. Hilla Sferruzza (EVP and CFO, Meritage Homes) stated that financing-related incentives, primarily forward purchase commitments with some 3-2-1s/2-1s, constitute about 40% of the total incentive pool, with the remaining 60% being non-financing related.

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