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KBH vs PHM
Which Stock Would AI Choose? KB Home (KBH) vs. PulteGroup (PHM) Stock Comparison
Key Takeaways
- KB Home (KBH) and PulteGroup (PHM) are both major U.S. homebuilders, but they serve overlapping buyer segments with meaningfully different scale, profitability profiles, and market footprints.
- PulteGroup commands a market capitalization of approximately $24 billion and operates nearly 1,000 communities, while KB Home's market cap sits around $3.5 billion with a more targeted geographic footprint across roughly 49 markets.
- PulteGroup has consistently delivered gross margins in the 27%–29% range, significantly outpacing KB Home's margins, which have recently hovered between 17% and 20%, reflecting divergent pricing power and cost structures.
- Both companies face ongoing headwinds from elevated mortgage rates and affordability constraints, but PulteGroup's brand diversity — including Centex and Del Webb — provides broader demand insulation than KB Home's build-to-order-focused model.
- Analyst sentiment leans more favorably toward PulteGroup, with a consensus closer to Buy, while KB Home carries a predominantly Hold rating amid concerns about entry-level buyer demand and margin compression.
Introduction
Investors tracking the homebuilding sector often find themselves weighing KBH (KB Home) against PHM (PulteGroup). Though both companies compete for the same pool of U.S. homebuyers, their business models, operational scale, and financial profiles diverge in ways that can materially influence portfolio outcomes. This comparison is particularly relevant for investors evaluating relative value within the consumer cyclical space, as homebuilder stocks remain sensitive to interest rate shifts, consumer confidence, and broader macroeconomic conditions. Understanding how these two companies navigate the current environment — where affordability challenges persist but long-term demographic tailwinds endure — can help market participants make more informed judgments about positioning.
KBH Overview and Recent Performance
KBH, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, is one of the oldest publicly traded homebuilders in the United States, with a history dating back to 1957. The company specializes in constructing single-family detached and attached homes, townhomes, and condominium units, with a strategic emphasis on first-time, first move-up, and active adult buyers. KB Home's hallmark is its Built-to-Order (BTO) model, which allows customers to personalize their homes before construction begins — a differentiator that fosters buyer commitment and historically results in lower cancellation rates compared to speculative-production peers.
In recent market activity, KB Home's stock has faced considerable pressure. The company reported fiscal 2025 full-year revenues of approximately $6.2 billion, a decline from the prior year, while adjusted housing gross profit margins contracted to roughly 17%–18% in the most recent quarters, down from over 21% a year earlier. Earnings per share (EPS) fell from $8.45 in fiscal 2024 to approximately $6.15 in fiscal 2025. Softening demand among entry-level buyers — the segment most sensitive to higher borrowing costs — has weighed on absorptions and order trends. KB Home responded by scaling back land acquisition spending and redirecting capital toward aggressive share repurchases, retiring roughly 13% of outstanding shares in fiscal 2025 at prices below book value. The stock's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has compressed into the single digits, reflecting market skepticism about near-term earnings momentum.
PHM Overview and Recent Performance
PHM, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of the largest homebuilding enterprises in the United States, operating through a diversified brand portfolio that includes Pulte Homes, Centex, and Del Webb. This multi-brand strategy allows the company to serve first-time buyers, move-up households, and active adult communities simultaneously, with Del Webb maintaining a particularly strong leadership position in the 55-and-older demographic. PulteGroup's integrated financial services division — encompassing mortgage origination, title, and insurance — further complements its core homebuilding operations.
In recent quarters, PulteGroup has demonstrated relative resilience despite sector-wide headwinds. The company reported fiscal 2025 full-year revenues near $17.3 billion and maintained a home sale gross margin of 27.0% in its most recently reported quarter, a figure that, while down from the prior year's 29.9%, remains among the highest in the industry. EPS for the same period came in at $3.03, comfortably exceeding consensus analyst estimates. Net new orders showed a single-digit percentage decline year-over-year, reflecting broader market softness, but PulteGroup's average selling price edged upward to approximately $559,000 — supported by its tilt toward move-up and active adult buyers who tend to be less rate-sensitive. The company ended the quarter with $1.3 billion in cash, a debt-to-capital ratio of just 11.4%, and continued its practice of returning capital to shareholders through both dividends and $300 million in quarterly share repurchases. Its return on equity (ROE) — a measure of profitability relative to shareholder capital — stood at a robust 23%.
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Head-to-Head Comparison
When placed side by side, the contrast between KBH and PHM sharpens across several dimensions.
Scale and Diversification: PulteGroup operates at roughly five times the revenue base of KB Home, with a community count nearing 1,000 versus KB Home's approximately 270 communities. PulteGroup's three-brand structure — Pulte, Centex, and Del Webb — grants it access to a wider demographic range and reduces dependency on any single buyer segment. KB Home's more concentrated BTO approach, while offering operational stability and a differentiated customer experience, limits the speed at which it can scale deliveries compared to production-oriented peers.
Profitability and Margins: PulteGroup has sustained gross margins roughly 10 percentage points above KB Home's recent levels. This gap reflects PulteGroup's stronger pricing power — particularly within its Del Webb active adult communities — as well as scale advantages in materials procurement. KB Home's margin compression has been amplified by its heavier exposure to entry-level buyers, who are more vulnerable to mortgage rate volatility and pricing concessions.
Capital Allocation: Both companies have prioritized share repurchases amid the current cycle, but the scale differs meaningfully. PulteGroup returned $600 million to shareholders through buybacks in the first half of 2025 alone. KB Home's buyback program, while aggressive relative to its market cap — retiring 13% of shares in one year — reflects a more defensive posture given constrained earnings visibility.
Market Sentiment and Volatility: PulteGroup carries a lower beta (a measure of volatility relative to the broader market) of approximately 0.69, compared to KB Home's beta of roughly 1.34. This suggests PulteGroup has been less susceptible to sharp swings, a characteristic that may appeal to risk-conscious investors. Analyst consensus tilts more favorably toward PulteGroup, with multiple recent Buy ratings and upward price target revisions, whereas KB Home's consensus remains anchored at Hold.
Risk Factors: Both companies face shared macro risks — elevated mortgage rates, tariff-related construction cost increases, and softening consumer confidence. However, KB Home's heavier tilt toward first-time buyers makes it more acutely exposed to affordability-driven demand erosion, whereas PulteGroup's affluent active-adult clientele provides a partial buffer against rate sensitivity.
Tickeron AI Verdict
Based on observable market data — including trend consistency, margin durability, analyst sentiment trajectory, and relative positioning across buyer segments — Tickeron's AI analytical framework would likely favor PHM in the current environment. PulteGroup's combination of industry-leading gross margins, lower beta, stronger balance sheet metrics, and brand diversification across less rate-sensitive demographics provides a more stable foundation amid ongoing housing market uncertainty. KB Home's deeply discounted valuation and aggressive buyback activity may offer contrarian appeal, but its compressed margins, softer demand among core first-time buyers, and more limited geographic reach present comparatively greater near-term headwinds. As always, this assessment reflects probabilistic analysis of current data rather than a definitive forecast, and market conditions can shift.
Disclaimer
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To compare these two companies we present long-term analysis, their fundamental ratings and make comparative short-term technical analysis which are presented below. The conclusion is KBH is a Buy and PHM is a StrongBuy.
Long-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a long-term outlook for a ticker by using Fundamental Analysis (FA) ratings. The rating of 1 to 100, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, is divided into thirds. The first third (a green rating of 1-33) indicates that the ticker is undervalued; the second third (a grey number between 34 and 66) means that the ticker is valued fairly; and the last third (red number of 67 to 100) reflects that the ticker is undervalued. We use an FA Score to show how many ratings show the ticker to be undervalued (green) or overvalued (red).
KBH’s FA Score shows that 2 FA rating(s) are green whilePHM’s FA Score has 1 green FA rating(s).
- KBH’s FA Score: 2 green, 3 red.
- PHM’s FA Score: 1 green, 4 red.
Short-Term Analysis
It is best to consider a short-term outlook for a ticker by using Technical Analysis (TA) indicators. We use Odds of Success as the percentage of outcomes which confirm successful trade signals in the past.
If the Odds of Success (the likelihood of the continuation of a trend) for each indicator are greater than 50%, then the generated signal is confirmed. A green percentage from 90% to 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bullish trend. A red percentage from 90% - 51% indicates that the ticker is in a bearish trend. All grey percentages are below 50% and are considered not to confirm the trend signal.
KBH’s TA Score shows that 4 TA indicator(s) are bullish while PHM’s TA Score has 4 bullish TA indicator(s).
- KBH’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 3 bearish.
- PHM’s TA Score: 4 bullish, 4 bearish.
Price Growth
KBH (@Homebuilding) experienced а +0.85% price change this week, while PHM (@Homebuilding) price change was +0.59% for the same time period.
The average weekly price growth across all stocks in the @Homebuilding industry was +2.25%. For the same industry, the average monthly price growth was -0.30%, and the average quarterly price growth was -6.70%.
Reported Earning Dates
KBH is expected to report earnings on Sep 23, 2026.
PHM is expected to report earnings on Oct 27, 2026.
Industries' Descriptions
@Homebuilding (+2.25% weekly)Homebuilding includes companies residential home construction companies, renovators and repair firms. The companies may be building single-family or multifamily homes, condominiums or mobile homes. Over the five years to 2019, the Home Builders industry is estimated to have grown at an annualized rate of 2.5% to reach $89.4 billion, (including expected growth of 2.6% in 2019), according to a study by IbisWorld. After having suffered one of its worst crises a decade ago during the last macroeconomic recession–which had much of its origins in U.S. real estate – the homebuilding industry has been recovering steadily so far. Higher disposable incomes and improving economic activity have bolstered consumers’ purchases of homes. While revenue of the Home Builders industry remains well below its prerecession high, demand growth estimates show promise.
| KBH | PHM | KBH / PHM | |
| Capitalization | 3.47B | 24.8B | 14% |
| EBITDA | 368M | 2.61B | 14% |
| Gain YTD | 1.545 | 11.380 | 14% |
| P/E Ratio | 13.75 | 13.28 | 104% |
| Revenue | 5.5B | 16.4B | 34% |
| Total Cash | 231M | 1.89B | 12% |
| Total Debt | 2B | 2.3B | 87% |
KBH | PHM | ||
|---|---|---|---|
OUTLOOK RATING 1..100 | 32 | 37 | |
VALUATION overvalued / fair valued / undervalued 1..100 | 9 Undervalued | 70 Overvalued | |
PROFIT vs RISK RATING 1..100 | 71 | 35 | |
SMR RATING 1..100 | 82 | 57 | |
PRICE GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 49 | 47 | |
P/E GROWTH RATING 1..100 | 11 | 19 | |
SEASONALITY SCORE 1..100 | 50 | 50 |
Tickeron ratings are formulated such that a rating of 1 designates the most successful stocks in a given industry, while a rating of 100 points to the least successful stocks for that industry.
KBH's Valuation (9) in the Homebuilding industry is somewhat better than the same rating for PHM (70). This means that KBH’s stock grew somewhat faster than PHM’s over the last 12 months.
PHM's Profit vs Risk Rating (35) in the Homebuilding industry is somewhat better than the same rating for KBH (71). This means that PHM’s stock grew somewhat faster than KBH’s over the last 12 months.
PHM's SMR Rating (57) in the Homebuilding industry is in the same range as KBH (82). This means that PHM’s stock grew similarly to KBH’s over the last 12 months.
PHM's Price Growth Rating (47) in the Homebuilding industry is in the same range as KBH (49). This means that PHM’s stock grew similarly to KBH’s over the last 12 months.
KBH's P/E Growth Rating (11) in the Homebuilding industry is in the same range as PHM (19). This means that KBH’s stock grew similarly to PHM’s over the last 12 months.
| KBH | PHM | |
|---|---|---|
| RSI ODDS (%) | N/A | N/A |
| Stochastic ODDS (%) | 5 days ago 68% | 5 days ago 65% |
| Momentum ODDS (%) | 5 days ago 68% | 5 days ago 73% |
| MACD ODDS (%) | 5 days ago 65% | 5 days ago 70% |
| TrendWeek ODDS (%) | 5 days ago 70% | 5 days ago 75% |
| TrendMonth ODDS (%) | 5 days ago 69% | 5 days ago 75% |
| Advances ODDS (%) | 7 days ago 69% | 7 days ago 71% |
| Declines ODDS (%) | 12 days ago 65% | 12 days ago 60% |
| BollingerBands ODDS (%) | 5 days ago 63% | 5 days ago 54% |
| Aroon ODDS (%) | 7 days ago 75% | 5 days ago 69% |
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| 1 Day | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ETFs / NAME | Price $ | Chg $ | Chg % |
| CARU | 24.42 | N/A | N/A |
| Max Auto Industry 3X Leveraged ETN | |||
| IGCB | 45.00 | N/A | N/A |
| TCW Corporate Bond ETF | |||
| RINT | 33.15 | -0.07 | -0.20% |
| Russell Inv International Dev Eq ETF | |||
| FEZ | 71.70 | -0.16 | -0.22% |
| State Street® SPDR® EURO STOXX 50® ETF | |||
| QDEF | 91.20 | -0.24 | -0.26% |
| FlexShares Quality Dividend Defensv ETF | |||
KBH and
Correlation & Price change
A.I.dvisor indicates that over the last year, KBH has been closely correlated with MTH. These tickers have moved in lockstep 88% of the time. This A.I.-generated data suggests there is a high statistical probability that if KBH jumps, then MTH could also see price increases.