After reporting less than expected revenue and missing its earnings per share guidance, shares for real estate holdings giant Realogy cratered today, reaching an all-time low, according to real-time financial data.
At 1:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Realogy stock had dropped around 19.7 percent to $14.32 per share, falling past the company’s all-time low. On December 31, 2018, Realogy shares reached its previous low of $14.40, but rebounded back over $18 per share in the new year.
Realogy stock price over the last five days. (Credit: Yahoo! Finance)
The slide comes on an otherwise neutral day for Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones down less than half a percent from the open of trading today.
Realogy’s plummet today comes on the heel of the release of its fourth quarter and 2018 year-total earnings on Tuesday morning.
Realogy is the largest residential real estate company in America, and owns NRT, the nation’s largest brokerage by sales volume, as well as the notable franchise brands Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran, Century 21, Sotheby’s International Realty, ERA, Citi Habitats, Climb Real Estate and ZipRealty.
Realogy fell short on its earnings per share (EPS) guidance, reporting an $0.04 adjusted EPS while analysts were estimating a fourth quarter-ending EPS of $0.10. Meanwhile, fourth-quarter revenue fell $90 million year-over-year to $1.4 billion, largely due to a decrease in transaction volume for NRT, Realogy’s own-side brokerage.
In the fourth quarter, Realogy reported a net loss of $22 million, compared to a net income of $255 million for the fourth quarter of 2017.
Despite the lower-than-expected earnings, Realogy CEO Ryan Schneider remained optimistic that agent commission increases would be more under control in 2019 and that Realogy’s proprietary tech offerings and recruiting efforts would move the company’s finances in a more positive direction. Even set against the backdrop of an uncertain housing market.
“While we face an uncertain housing market, the strategic changes we are driving for agents across products, technology, data and talent are beginning to get traction, giving me early confidence that these initiatives will lead to better company performance,” Schneider said in a statement.
Investment research firm Zacks currently has Realogy stock rated as a, “sell,” expecting only a 5.38 percent annualized return over the next 1-3 months.
