PulteGroup (PHM) Risk Factors

Our operations are subject to building, safety, environmental, and other regulations imposed and enforced by various federal, state, and local governing authorities. New housing developments may also be subject to various assessments for schools, parks, streets, and other public improvements. These assessments have increased over recent years as other funding mechanisms have decreased, causing local governing authorities to seek greater contributions from homebuilders. All of these factors have caused and could in the future cause an increase in the effective cost of our homes. We also are subject to a variety of local, state, and federal laws and regulations concerning protection of health, safety, and the environment. The impact of environmental laws varies depending upon the prior uses of the building site or adjoining properties and may be greater in areas with less supply where undeveloped land or desirable alternatives are less available. These matters may result in delays, may cause us to incur substantial compliance, remediation and other costs, and could prohibit or severely restrict development and homebuilding activity in environmentally sensitive regions or areas. More stringent requirements could be imposed in the future on homebuilders, developers, and financial services companies, thereby increasing the cost of compliance. Our financial services operations are also subject to numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations. These include eligibility requirements for participation in federal loan programs and compliance with consumer lending and similar requirements such as disclosure requirements, prohibitions against discrimination, and real estate settlement procedures. They also subject our operations to examination by applicable agencies, pursuant to which those agencies may limit our ability to provide mortgage financing or title services to potential purchasers of our homes. For our homes to qualify for FHA or VA mortgages, we must satisfy valuation standards and site, material, and construction requirements of those agencies.

Although we expect all of our subcontractors, employees, officers, and directors to comply at all times with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, there may be instances in which subcontractors or others through whom we do business engage in practices that do not comply with applicable laws, regulations, or governmental guidelines. When we learn of practices that do not comply with applicable laws, regulations, or government guidelines, including practices relating to homes, buildings, or multifamily properties we build or finance, we move to stop the non-complying practices as soon as possible, and we have taken disciplinary action regarding subcontractors and employees of ours who were aware of non-complying practices and did not take steps to address them, including in some instances terminating their employment or engagement. However, regardless of the steps we take after we learn of practices that do not comply with applicable laws, regulations, or government guidelines, we can in some instances be subject to fines or other governmental penalties, and our reputation can be injured, due to the practices having taken place. The homes we sell are built by employees of subcontractors and other contract parties. We do not have the ability to control what these contract parties pay their employees or subcontractors or the work rules they impose on their employees or subcontractors. However, various governmental agencies have attempted to hold contract parties like us responsible for violations of wage and hour laws and other work-related laws by firms whose employees are performing contracted services. Governmental rulings or changes in state or local laws that make us responsible for labor practices by our subcontractors could create substantial exposures for us in situations that are not within our control.

In addition to more frequent extreme weather events, global climate change can also impact our operations through extensive governmental policy developments and shifts in consumer sentiment which have the potential individually or collectively to significantly disrupt our business as well as negatively affect our suppliers, independent contractors and customers. For instance, the requirement to modify our home designs mandated by upgraded building codes or recommended practices given a region's particular exposure to climate conditions can increase our costs, which we may not be able to recoup by increasing the price of our homes. Government restrictions, standards, or regulations intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or potential climate change impacts are also likely to result in restrictions on land development in certain areas and may increase energy, transportation, or raw material costs, which could reduce our housing gross profit margins and adversely affect our results of operations. For example, as the risk of flooding in coastal and other flood prone areas increases or the results of climate change result in water scarcity, local governments may increase the requirements on new home builders for zoning approvals and restrict areas where new homes may be built, resulting in increased development costs and greater competition for more desirable land parcels. In addition, as local governmental authorities and utilities are required to spend increasing amounts of their resources responding to and remediating weather and climate-related events, their ability to provide approvals and service to new housing communities may be impaired.

Our success depends upon the skills, experience, and active participation of our senior management, many of whom have been with the Company for a significant number of years. If we were to lose members of our senior management, we might not be able to find appropriate replacements on a timely basis, and our operations could be negatively affected. Also, the loss of a significant number of operating employees in key roles or geographies where we are not able to hire qualified replacements could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The homebuilding industry is highly competitive for skilled labor. Labor shortages have continued to limit the availability of construction labor. Additionally, the supply of certain building materials, especially lumber, wood-based materials such as roof and floor trusses and oriented strand boards, steel, resin, concrete, copper, and petroleum-based materials, is limited and has been impacted by the combination of strong consumer demand, disruptions in the global supply chain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and major weather events at the point of manufacture of certain products. Supply constraints can also be further exacerbated by government policies which make it more difficult and/or expensive for suppliers to produce materials needed for our business. These factors, along with the consolidation of ownership of the source of supply for certain building materials, have resulted in increases to the prices of some materials. Increased costs and shortages of labor and materials can cause increases in construction costs, and construction delays. We may not be able to pass on increases in construction costs to customers and generally are unable to pass on any such increases to customers who have already entered into sales contracts as those sales contracts generally fix the price of the home at the time the contract is signed, which may be well in advance of the construction of the home. Sustained increases in construction costs may, over time, erode our margins, and pricing competition may restrict our ability to pass on any such additional costs, thereby decreasing our margins.

Inflation can adversely affect us by increasing costs of land, materials, and labor. In addition, significant inflation is often accompanied by higher interest rates, which recently have had a negative impact on demand for our homes. In an inflationary environment like the one we are currently experiencing, economic conditions and other market factors may make it difficult for us to raise home prices enough to keep up with the rate of inflation, which could reduce our profit margins or reduce the number of consumers who can afford to purchase one of our homes. We are currently experiencing heightened labor and materials prices which have resulted primarily from increased demand and inflationary monetary policy stemming from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. These factors have increased our operational costs in recent periods, and if the current inflationary environment continues or worsens, we may not be able to adjust the pricing we charge for homes to offset these increased costs in the future, which would adversely impact our results of operations and cash flows.

The capital and credit markets can experience significant volatility. We may need credit-related liquidity for the future development of our business and other capital needs. Without sufficient liquidity, we may not be able to purchase additional land or develop land, which could adversely affect our financial results. At December 31, 2023, we had cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash of $1.8 billion as well as $937.3 million available under our revolving credit facility ("Revolving Credit Facility"). However, our internal sources of liquidity and Revolving Credit Facility may prove to be insufficient, and, in such case, we may not be able to successfully obtain additional financing on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Another source of liquidity is our ability to use letters of credit and surety bonds relating to certain performance-related obligations and as security for certain land option agreements and insurance programs. The majority of these letters of credit and surety bonds are in support of our land development and construction obligations to various municipalities, other government agencies, and utility companies related to the construction of roads, sewers, and other infrastructure. At December 31, 2023, we had outstanding letters of credit and surety bonds totaling $312.7 million and $2.4 billion, respectively. These letters of credit are generally issued via our unsecured Revolving Credit Facility, which contains certain financial covenants and other limitations. If we are unable to obtain letters of credit or surety bonds when required, or the conditions imposed by issuers increase significantly, our liquidity, and cost of operations could be adversely affected.

The U.S. housing industry is highly competitive. Homebuilders compete for homebuyers in each of our markets with numerous national, regional, and local homebuilders on the basis of location, price, quality, reputation, design, community amenities, and our customers' overall sales and homeownership experiences. This competition with other homebuilders could reduce the number of homes we deliver or cause us to accept reduced margins to maintain sales volume. We also compete with resales of existing or foreclosed homes, housing speculators, and available rental housing. Increased competitive conditions in the residential resale or rental market in the regions where we operate could decrease demand for new homes or unfavorably impact pricing for new homes.

The residential homebuilding industry is sensitive to changes in economic conditions and other factors, such as the level of employment, consumer confidence, consumer income, product affordability, availability of financing, inflation, and interest rate levels. Adverse changes in any of these conditions generally, or in the markets where we operate, could decrease demand and pricing for new homes in these areas and result in customer cancellations of pending contracts, which could adversely affect the number of home deliveries we make or reduce the prices we can charge for homes, either of which could result in a significant decrease in our revenues and earnings that could materially and adversely affect our financial condition. For example, beginning in 2006 and continuing through 2011, the U.S. housing market was unfavorably impacted by severe weakness in new home sales attributable to, among other factors, weak consumer confidence, tightened mortgage standards, significant foreclosure activity, a more challenging appraisal environment, higher than normal unemployment levels, and significant uncertainty in the global economy. During this period, we incurred significant losses, including impairments of our land inventory and certain other assets, and some aspects of the housing industry have yet to return to pre-2007 production levels. Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic also impacted our business and resulted in a significant slowdown in our business and impacts to our financial results, followed by historically high inflation, increased interest rates and weaker economic conditions all of which impacted the affordability of our homes and consumer sentiment.

Our business strategy relies heavily on our reputation and brands, which are critical to our success. Unfavorable media or investor and analyst reports related to our industry, company, brand, marketing, personnel, operations, business performance, or prospects may affect our stock price and the performance of our business, regardless of their accuracy or inaccuracy. Furthermore, the speed at which negative publicity is disseminated has increased dramatically through the use of electronic communication, including social media outlets, websites and other digital platforms. Our success in maintaining and enhancing our brand depends on our ability to adapt to this rapidly changing media environment. Adverse publicity or negative commentary from any media outlets could damage our reputation and reduce the demand for our homes, which would adversely affect our business. We can also be affected by poor relations with the residents of communities we develop because efforts made by us to resolve issues or disputes that may arise in connection with the operation or development of their communities, or in connection with the transition of a homeowners association, could be deemed unsatisfactory by the affected residents and subsequent actions by these residents could adversely affect sales or our reputation. In addition, we could decide or be required to make material expenditures related to the settlement of such issues or disputes, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

We use information technology and other computer resources to carry out important operational activities and to maintain our business records. Our computer systems, including our back-up systems, are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches (through cyber-attacks from computer hackers and sophisticated organizations), catastrophic events such as fires, tornadoes and hurricanes, usage errors by our employees, or cyber-attacks or errors by third party vendors who could gain access to our confidential data or that of our customers, vendors, or employees. In particular, the frequency, severity and novelty of cyber-attacks on companies has increased in recent years, including significant ransomware attacks and foreign attacks on prominent companies and computer software programs, as threat actors become increasingly sophisticated and employ techniques, including malicious uses of artificial intelligence such as deepfakes, to launch attacks that are increasingly difficult to detect and defend against. We, like many organizations, have experienced and expect to continue to experience varying degrees of cybersecurity incidents in the course of our business, including phishing and social engineering intrusions which could lean, in turn, to ransomware attacks or other incidents that could impact our business. While to our knowledge we have not experienced a significant cybersecurity incident that has materially affected our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition, and we are continuously working to improve our information technology systems and provide employee awareness training around phishing, malware, and other cyber risks to enhance our levels of protection, to the extent possible, against cyber risks and security breaches, and to enhance our monitoring to prevent, detect, contain, address and mitigate the risk of unauthorized access, misuse, computer viruses and other events that could have an impact on our business, there is no assurance that advances in computer capabilities, new technologies, methods or other developments will detect or prevent security breaches and safeguard access to proprietary or confidential information or otherwise prevent material consequences for our business and reputation. If our computer systems and our back-up systems are damaged, breached, or cease to function properly, or if there are intrusions or failures of critical infrastructure such as the power grid or communications systems, we could suffer extended interruptions in our operations. Any such disruption could damage our reputation, result in lost customers, lost revenue and market value declines, lead to legal proceedings against us by affected third parties resulting in penalties or fines and require us to incur significant costs to remediate or otherwise resolve these issues. In addition to direct cyber-attacks on, or other disruptions of, our systems, cyber-attacks on, or other disruptions of, the systems of our suppliers, financial service companies, service providers and other parties on which we rely to conduct our business can result in their inability to provide services to us and impact our ability to conduct our business in the ordinary course. Breaches of our computer or data systems, including those operated by third parties on our behalf, could also result in the unintended public disclosure or the misappropriation of our proprietary information or personal and confidential information,about our employees, customers and business partners, requiring us to incur significant expense to address and resolve. Improper conduct by our employees who have access to such information could also result in the misuse of such information. The misappropriation and/or release of confidential information may also lead to legal or regulatory proceedings against us by affected individuals and the outcome of such proceedings could include penalties or fines and require us to incur significant costs to remediate or otherwise resolve. Depending on its nature, a particular breach or series of breaches of our systems may result in the unauthorized use, appropriation or loss of confidential or proprietary information on a one-time or continuing basis, which may not be detected for a period of time. The costs of maintaining adequate protection and insurance against such threats, as they develop in the future (or as legal requirements related to data security increase), could be material. While we currently have insurance coverage for losses incurred as a result of cyber-attacks, there is no assurance that future coverage will not be restricted or become more costly. In addition, there is no assurance that any such insurance would make us whole for any losses incurred by our Company. If we suffer cybersecurity incidents or data security issues in the future, we could suffer material liabilities, our reputation could be materially damaged, and our operations could be materially disrupted.