The home construction industry has been watched closely in the last few quarters. The housing numbers have been stagnant and declining in the U.S. and the Fed was in a rate-hiking phase up until December. Those two factors led to a selloff in a number of housing stocks and it caused the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE: XHB) to fall sharply. After the low in December, the XHB bounced back, primarily as the overall market bounced back. The ETF did do something different from the rest of the market over the last three and a half months though—it formed an upward sloping trend channel.
We see on the daily chart how the highs from February, April, and May form the upper rail while the low from March and the recent low form the lower rail. The lower rail is very close to the 50-day moving average and that means the area should be a strong support level.
The Tickeron AI Trend Prediction Engine generated a bullish signal for the XHB on May 13 and that signal is predicting a gain of at least 4% over the next month. The signal showed a confidence level of 72% and previous predictions toward the ETF have been successful 86% of the time.
Due to how I use Investor’s Business Daily’s fundamental rating system, I knew there were several homebuilders with strong EPS ratings and SMR ratings. I looked at the 10 most heavily weighted stocks in the XHB and put together the following table.
These 10 stocks account for almost 50% of the holdings in the XHB on a weighted basis. As you can see, the average EPS score for the 10 stocks is 84.9. Using the traditional grading system of four points for an A, three for a B, etc, the average SMR grade is 3.2, or a B+.
What this tells me is that the companies that are held in the XHB have some pretty solid fundamentals.
XHB moved above its 50-day moving average on May 08, 2025 date and that indicates a change from a downward trend to an upward trend. In of 30 similar past instances, the stock price increased further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
The RSI Indicator points to a transition from a downward trend to an upward trend -- in cases where XHB's RSI Indicator exited the oversold zone, of 22 resulted in an increase in price. Tickeron's analysis proposes that the odds of a continued upward trend are .
The Momentum Indicator moved above the 0 level on April 22, 2025. You may want to consider a long position or call options on XHB as a result. In of 83 past instances where the momentum indicator moved above 0, the stock continued to climb. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for XHB just turned positive on April 22, 2025. Looking at past instances where XHB's MACD turned positive, the stock continued to rise in of 50 cases over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
Following a 3-day Advance, the price is estimated to grow further. Considering data from situations where XHB advanced for three days, in of 327 cases, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
XHB may jump back above the lower band and head toward the middle band. Traders may consider buying the stock or exploring call options.
The Stochastic Oscillator entered the overbought zone. Expect a price pull-back in the foreseeable future.
Following a 3-day decline, the stock is projected to fall further. Considering past instances where XHB declined for three days, the price rose further in of 62 cases within the following month. The odds of a continued downward trend are .
The Aroon Indicator for XHB entered a downward trend on April 15, 2025. This could indicate a strong downward move is ahead for the stock. Traders may want to consider selling the stock or buying put options.
The average fundamental analysis ratings, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, are as follows
Category ConsumerDiscretionary