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Meritage Homes is like a Ford or Toyota for houses, manufacturing new single-family homes for first-time and first move-up buyers across the country.

Meritage Homes is similar to a D.R. Horton or Lennar, designing and building new single-family homes in various U.S. states.

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• Single-Family Homes: Meritage Homes designs, constructs, markets, and sells single-family homes, primarily to first-time and first move-up buyers.
• Title Insurance: The company provides title insurance services to its homebuyers.
• Closing/Settlement Services: Meritage Homes offers closing and settlement services to facilitate the home purchasing process for its buyers.

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Meritage Homes Corporation (MTH) sells primarily to individual homebuyers. Based on the company description, the major categories of customers it serves are:

• First-time buyers
• First move-up buyers

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Phillippe Lord, Chief Executive Officer

Phillippe Lord has served as CEO of Meritage Homes and a Board director since 2021. He previously held the roles of Chief Operating Officer of Meritage Homes from 2015 to 2020 and President of the West Region from 2012 to 2015. Lord began his career at Meritage Homes in 2008 by establishing the company's strategic operations and market research department. Prior to joining Meritage Homes, he held leadership positions with Acacia Capital, Centex Homes, and Pinnacle West Capital.

Hilla Sferruzza, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Hilla Sferruzza has served as Chief Financial Officer of Meritage Homes since 2016. Her prior roles at the company include Chief Accounting Officer (2010-2021) and Corporate Controller (2010-2015). She began her career at Meritage Homes in 2006 in accounting, finance, and financial reporting management. Before joining Meritage, Ms. Sferruzza held various leadership positions at KPMG and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc., which was later acquired by Marriott International. She is recognized for her expertise in residential construction, land acquisition, debt and equity capital transactions, M&A and divestiture structures, and financial modeling.

Steven J. Hilton, Executive Chairman of the Board

Steven J. Hilton co-founded Monterey Homes, the predecessor company to Meritage Homes, in 1985. He led Meritage Homes for 35 years as Chairman and CEO until his retirement from the CEO role in January 2021, and continues to serve as Executive Chairman. Under his leadership, Monterey became publicly traded in 1997, and Meritage Homes acquired eight other homebuilding companies between 1997 and 2005.

Javier Feliciano, Chief People Officer

Javier Feliciano has been the Chief People Officer of Meritage Homes since 2015. Before his tenure at Meritage Homes, Mr. Feliciano held leadership positions at companies such as Ford Motor Company, PepsiCo, Apollo Education Group, and Valeo.

Austin Woffinden, Executive Vice President, Corporate Operations and Strategy

Austin Woffinden became Executive Vice President, Corporate Operations and Strategy for Meritage Homes, effective January 1, 2026. He began his career at Meritage in 2007 as a Vice President Regional Counsel and has since held various operational leadership roles, including Area President of Dallas Fort Worth and Nashville, and Division President of Dallas Fort Worth. Prior to joining Meritage, Mr. Woffinden worked at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, LLP.

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The key risks to Meritage Homes (MTH) are primarily driven by the cyclical nature of the homebuilding industry and current macroeconomic conditions.

1. Adverse Housing Market Conditions: Meritage Homes faces significant risk from challenging housing market conditions, including elevated interest rates, high home prices, and reduced affordability. These factors can decrease consumer demand for new homes, making it more difficult to sell properties and exerting downward pressure on sales volumes and revenues. The company's focus on entry-level and first move-up buyers makes it particularly susceptible to affordability headwinds. Delays in interest rate reductions or smaller-than-anticipated cuts would prolong the challenging demand environment.
2. Margin Pressure from Incentives and Costs: To stimulate sales in a less favorable market, Meritage Homes often relies on increased incentives and mortgage rate buydowns, which directly erode gross profit margins. Additionally, persistent land inflation and sustained increases in construction costs, including building materials and labor, can further squeeze profitability and disrupt operations.
3. Inventory Risk from Spec Home Model: Meritage Homes utilizes a 100% "spec home" model, building homes before securing a buyer to facilitate faster closings. While this strategy can increase market share in certain conditions, it also significantly elevates inventory risk. If housing demand slows unexpectedly, the company could accumulate a large inventory of unsold homes, leading to increased carrying costs, a greater need for price reductions and incentives, and further negative impacts on margins.

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One clear emerging threat for Meritage Homes is the **rapid scaling of advanced off-site construction methods**, such as modular, panelized, or 3D-printed home construction. As these technologies mature, they offer the potential for significantly faster build times, reduced labor costs, and enhanced material efficiency compared to traditional stick-built construction. If competitors or new entrants in Meritage's markets successfully scale these methods to deliver comparable quality homes at lower price points or with greater speed, it could disrupt Meritage's competitive position and challenge its traditional construction model.

Another clear emerging threat is the **aggressive expansion of institutional Build-to-Rent (BTR) single-family home communities**. Meritage targets first-time and first move-up homebuyers. The continued influx of institutional capital into the BTR sector, leading to large-scale development of purpose-built rental communities, could increase competition for suitable land parcels and potentially siphon off a significant portion of Meritage's target demographic who might otherwise purchase a home. This trend represents a shift in consumer preference and accessibility, potentially shrinking the addressable market for traditional for-sale homebuilders.

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• Single-Family Home Construction: The single-family housing construction market in the U.S. was valued at approximately $804.08 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to $845.86 billion in 2026. This market is expected to reach $1.09 trillion by 2030.
• Title Insurance and Closing/Settlement Services: The U.S. title insurance industry's revenue is estimated at $17.1 billion in 2025. The North American title insurance market, which includes the U.S., was valued at an estimated $2 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $2.8 billion by 2032.

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Meritage Homes (MTH) is expected to drive future revenue growth over the next 2-3 years through several key strategies:

1. Increased Community Count: The company is focused on expanding its community count, with expectations of double-digit year-over-year growth in 2025 and continued growth of 5-10% in 2026. This expansion directly addresses the persistent undersupply of housing in the U.S. and positions Meritage Homes to capture increased new home demand.
2. Targeting Entry-Level and First Move-Up Buyers with Move-in Ready Homes and 60-Day Closing Commitments: Meritage Homes specializes in entry-level and first move-up homes, a segment with strong demand due to favorable demographic shifts from Millennials and Gen Z entering homebuying age. The company's "move-in ready" spec home strategy and 60-day closing commitment aim to shorten the sales cycle, provide certainty to buyers, and effectively compete with the resale market, thereby driving sales volume.
3. Strategic Land Investments: Meritage Homes is actively investing in land acquisition and development, controlling a significant supply of lots for future homebuilding. These strategic land investments are crucial for supporting the planned increase in community count and overall growth.
4. Geographic Expansion and Diversification: The company has expanded its presence nationwide across 12 states, focusing on high-growth markets in the Sunbelt. Meritage Homes is also exploring new endeavors like build-to-rent (BTR), which can further contribute to addressing housing affordability and generating revenue.

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Capital Allocation Decisions (2021-2025) for Meritage Homes (MTH)

Share Repurchases

• Meritage Homes repurchased approximately $294.999 million in shares in 2025. As of November 20, 2025, $536 million remained available under the authorized share repurchase program, with plans to increase quarterly repurchases to $100 million in 2026.
• In 2024, the company's annual share buybacks totaled $125.932 million.
• For 2022, Meritage Homes repurchased 1,166,040 shares of common stock for $109.3 million.

Share Issuance

• The number of shares outstanding has generally declined over the past 3-5 years, reflecting net repurchases rather than significant issuances for capital raising. For example, shares outstanding declined by 2.71% in 2025 from 2024, and by 1.09% in 2024 from 2023.
• A two-for-one stock split was completed in January 2025, which increased the number of shares but did not represent an issuance of new equity for capital.

Outbound Investments

• In the fourth quarter of 2024, Meritage Homes completed the acquisition of Elliott Homes, a private builder. This acquisition added approximately 5,500 lots and expanded Meritage Homes' presence into new markets like Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida panhandle.

Capital Expenditures

• Meritage Homes allocated $2.5 billion towards land acquisition and development in 2024, an increase from $1.9 billion in 2023.
• In 2022, approximately $1.5 billion was invested in land acquisition and development.
• The company expects reduced land acquisition and development spend in 2026.