KB Home Narrows Loss; Orders Soar

LOS ANGELES (TheStreet) -- KB Home narrowed its loss in the third quarter and saw orders spike, but still missed Wall Street's expectations.

During the quarter, the company lessened its loss to $66 million, or 87 cents a share, from a loss of $144.7 million, or $1.87 a share, in the year-ago period. Analysts expected a loss of 58 cents.

Revenue tanked 33% to $458.5 million from $681.6 million.

But there was a bright spot in the report: orders surged 62% to 2,158 units.

"The housing market overall remains in a transition where it will likely be some time before we see meaningful improvement in the economic conditions that are essential to our industry's future growth," Jeff Mezger, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"While tentative indications are that some negative economic trends are slowing or leveling out to varying degrees in certain markets, the ongoing impact of and the potential for increased foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies, higher unemployment, tighter credit standards, and relatively weak consumer confidence make the timing and extent of a sustained rebound still uncertain."

One such blip in the housing recovery was seen on Thursday, when the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales slipped 2.7% in August.

New homes sales report will be released later this morning.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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