Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Stuart Miller: Yes. Great question. We’re very focused on that. As you can imagine, we do see increased cash flow accumulating. And Diane won’t let me tell you to what extent, but it’s greater than where we are right now, and that sets up opportunity. It is — capital allocation has become a very strategic part of our thinking process. We consider regularly the relationship between debt retirement and stock buyback. For now, we are taking an opportunistic view of stock buyback in that we are — we have basically been focused on a steady-state level of repurchase, but that could grow over time as we look opportunistically. And we are also looking at other strategic possibilities that will reveal over time. We’re not asleep at the switch. We recognize that the accumulation of cash is a bit unusual within the industry. We’re not uncomfortable with it, and we’re being very thoughtful about it. That will evolve over time.

Susan Maklari: Okay. Thank you for all the color and good luck.

Operator: Next, we’ll go to the line of Stephen Kim from Evercore ISI. Please go ahead.

Stephen Kim: My first question is going to also focus a little bit on the balance sheet side. And I guess, specifically, in the wake of the regional bank trust, we’re hearing that there’s this window of opportunity that’s opening up to maybe acquire some attractively positioned lots or even operations from some of the smaller, less well-capitalized builders, allowing builders such as yourself with a big war chest to accelerate market share gains. And I’m curious, could you weigh in on that? Are you seeing that as well? And if you are, can you take advantage of these kinds of opportunities, these emerging opportunities while maintaining your asset-light program by utilizing your existing off-balance sheet structures? Or is it reasonable to think your own lot count might move up a little bit before moving down again later?

Or that you would need to create some other structures in order to accommodate it? If you can just give us some sense of how you’re thinking about that relative to this window of opportunity that we’re hearing about.

Stuart Miller: So Steve, these are focal points that are well right in the middle of our radar screen. I think that we’re a bit early stage in some of the questions and considerations. I think that some of these questions are more applicable immediately in the land development side of the business, where land developers who are not part of Lennar are definitely feeling some stress. I think that the capital accumulation that we have in cash on our books is a strategic opportunity for us to participate and make sure — and making sure that there is even flow by some of the participants, either through partnership or other structures. In terms of some of the homebuilders, I think that there is still capital available for those that are operating in the production world.

Whether that changes over time, we certainly have a front seat at the table in terms of being able to act where the right opportunities fit. We’ve done it before. We’re not afraid to go forward. Your question about off-balance sheet structures is a really important one, because many know that we’ve spent an awful lot of time and are spending a lot of time on creating systemic solutions for what I think of as kind of an opco-propco type configuration. There is no question that the structures that we have worked on can be constructive relative to some of the dysfunction that is in the market right now, and we’re working in those directions as well. So I guess the best answer to your question is a broad one, and that is all of the above, it’s all on the table.

We are uniquely positioned to be able to participate. And all of it will be focused on building production trajectory, production consistency in growing the core business, the manufacturing homebuilding business. As we go forward, we have the latitude of balance sheet to be able to do that in a lot of different ways.