MDC Holdings Inc.’s shares fell Wednesday after the Denver-based homebuilder said second-quarter earnings may drop below analysts’ estimates because of construction delays.
Sales of 450 homes in Arizona and Nevada for a combined $125 million will be delayed until the third quarter from the current quarter, the company said in a statement. The delays may result in earnings of less than $2.65 a share, compared with an average estimate of $2.79 a share from eight analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
MDC’s shares fell 41 cents to $78.78 on the New York Stock Exchange, after dropping to $76.72 on electronic markets before exchanges opened. They’ve gained 18 percent this year.
“Units postponed out of the third quarter will be simply delivered one or two months later in the fourth quarter,” Stephen Kim, a Citigroup Global Markets analyst, said in a research note to investors.
Kim rates the stock a “buy.”
MDC is at least the second homebuilder whose shares have fallen this month on earnings news.
MDC said net income for the quarter would exceed the $2.36 a share reported a year earlier. It said earnings for the year would top $10.44 a share, the average estimate from Thomson.
The company said labor and material shortages in Arizona and postponements related to electricity connections in Nevada caused the delays. The company said any earnings lost this quarter would be made up in the next quarter.
