Toll Brothers (TOL) 10-Q2023 Q1 Quarterly report

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

(215) 938-8000

Certain information included in this report or in other materials we have filed or will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) (as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by us) contains or may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). One can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate to matters of a strictly historical or factual nature and generally discuss or relate to future events. These statements contain words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “may,” “can,” “could,” “might,” “should,” “likely”, “will” and other words or phrases of similar meaning. Such statements may include, but are not limited to, information and statements regarding: expectations regarding interest rates and inflation; the markets in which we operate or may operate; our strategic objectives and priorities; our land acquisition, land development and capital allocation plans and priorities; housing market conditions; demand for our homes; anticipated operating results and guidance; home deliveries; financial resources and condition; changes in revenues, in profitability and in margins; changes in accounting treatment; cost of revenues, including expected labor and material costs; availability of labor and materials; selling, general, and administrative expenses; interest expense; inventory write-downs; home warranty and construction defect claims; unrecognized tax benefits; anticipated tax refunds; sales paces and prices; effects of home buyer cancellations; growth and expansion; joint ventures in which we are involved; anticipated results from our investments in unconsolidated entities; our ability to acquire or dispose of land and pursue real estate opportunities; our ability to gain approvals to develop land, open new communities and deliver homes; our ability to market, construct and sell homes and properties; the rate at which we deliver homes from backlog; our ability to secure materials and subcontractors; our ability to produce the liquidity and capital necessary to conduct normal business operations or to expand and take advantage of opportunities; and the outcome of legal proceedings, investigations, and claims.

From time to time, forward-looking statements also are included in other reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K; in press releases; in presentations; on our website; and in other materials released to the public. Any or all of the forward-looking statements included in this report and in any other reports or public statements made by us are not guarantees of future performance and may turn out to be inaccurate. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from those that might be anticipated from our forward-looking statements. This can occur as a result of incorrect assumptions or as a consequence of known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Therefore, we caution you not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. The major risks and uncertainties – and assumptions that are made – that affect our business and may cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to:

Many of the factors mentioned above, elsewhere in this report or in other reports or public statements made by us will be important in determining our future performance. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from those that might be anticipated from our forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

For a further discussion of factors that we believe could cause our actual results to differ materially from expected and historical results, see “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and in this report.

When this report uses the words “we,” “us,” “our,” and the “Company,” they refer to Toll Brothers, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires. References herein to fiscal year refer to our fiscal years ended or ending October 31.

Our condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Toll Brothers, Inc. (the “Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), a Delaware corporation, and its majority owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated. Investments in 50% or less owned partnerships and affiliates are accounted for using the equity method unless it is determined that we have effective control of the entity, in which case we would consolidate the entity.

In March 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2020-04, “Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848),” as amended by ASU 2021-01 in January 2021 and ASU 2022-06 in December 2022 (“ASC 848”), directly addressing the effects of reference rate reform on financial reporting as a result of the cessation of the publication of certain London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) rates beginning December 31, 2021. The guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions affected by reference rate reform by virtue of referencing LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued. This guidance became effective on March 12, 2020 and can be adopted no later than December 31, 2024, with early adoption permitted. We elected to apply the hedge accounting expedients related to probability and the assessments of effectiveness for future LIBOR-indexed cash flows to assume that the index upon which future hedged transactions will be based matches the index on the corresponding derivatives. Application of these expedients preserves the presentation of derivatives consistent with past presentation. We continue to evaluate the impact of the guidance on our consolidated financial statements and may apply other elections as applicable as additional changes in the market occur.

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the fiscal 2023 presentation.

Operating communities include communities offering homes for sale; communities that have sold all available home sites but have not completed delivery of the homes and communities preparing to open for sale. The carrying value attributable to operating communities includes the cost of homes under construction, land and land development costs, the carrying cost of home sites in current and future phases of these communities, and the carrying cost of model homes.

Backlog consists of homes under contract but not yet delivered to our home buyers (“backlog”).

We have also recognized $13.0 million of land impairment charges on land held for sale included in land sales and other cost of revenues during the three-month period ended January 31, 2023. No similar charges were recognized during the three-month period ended January 31, 2022.

See Note 13, “Commitments and Contingencies,” for information regarding land purchase commitments.

At January 31, 2023, we evaluated our land purchase contracts, including those to acquire land for apartment developments, to determine whether any of the selling entities were variable interest entities (“VIEs”) and, if they were, whether we were the

primary beneficiary of any of them. Under these land purchase contracts, we do not possess legal title to the land; our risk is generally limited to deposits paid to the sellers and predevelopment costs incurred; and the creditors of the sellers generally have no recourse against us. At January 31, 2023, we determined that 228 land purchase contracts, with an aggregate purchase price of $3.67 billion, on which we had made aggregate deposits totaling $408.9 million, were VIEs, and that we were not the primary beneficiary of any VIE related to our land purchase contracts. At October 31, 2022, we determined that 237 land purchase contracts, with an aggregate purchase price of $3.89 billion, on which we had made aggregate deposits totaling $417.6 million, were VIEs and that we were not the primary beneficiary of any VIE related to our land purchase contracts.

Interest incurred, capitalized, and expensed, for the periods indicated, was as follows (amounts in thousands):

During the three months ended January 31, 2023 and 2022, we recognized approximately $(3.8) million and $274,000 of net (gains) losses related to our interest rate swaps which is included in accumulated other comprehensive income, respectively, and approximately $(362,000) and $76,000 of net (gains) losses were reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income to home sales cost of revenues, respectively.

We have investments in various unconsolidated entities and our ownership interest in these investments ranges from 5.0% to 50%. These entities are structured as joint ventures and either: (i) develop land for the joint venture participants and for sale to outside builders (“Land Development Joint Ventures”); (ii) develop for-sale homes (“Home Building Joint Ventures”); (iii) develop luxury for-rent residential apartments and single family homes, commercial space, and a hotel (“Rental Property Joint Ventures”); or (iv) provide financing and land banking to residential builders and developers for the acquisition and development of land and home sites (“Gibraltar Joint Ventures”).

More specific and/or recent information regarding our investments in, advances to, and future commitments to these entities is provided below.

There were no other-than-temporary impairment charges recognized during the three-month periods ended January 31, 2023 and 2022.

The unconsolidated entities in which we have investments generally finance their activities with a combination of partner equity and debt financing. In some instances, we have guaranteed portions of debt of unconsolidated entities. These guarantees may include any or all of the following: (i) project completion guarantees, including any cost overruns; (ii) repayment guarantees, generally covering a percentage of the outstanding loan; (iii) carry cost guarantees, which cover costs such as interest, real estate taxes, and insurance; (iv) an environmental indemnity provided to the lender that holds the lender harmless from and against losses arising from the discharge of hazardous materials from the property and non-compliance with applicable environmental laws; and (v) indemnification of the lender from “bad boy acts” of the unconsolidated entity or its partners.

In some instances, we and our joint venture partner have provided joint and several guarantees in connection with loans to unconsolidated entities. In these situations, we generally seek to implement a reimbursement agreement with our partner that provides that neither party is responsible for more than its proportionate share or agreed upon share of the guarantee; however, we are not always successful. In addition, if the joint venture partner does not have adequate financial resources to meet its obligations under such a reimbursement agreement, we may be liable for more than our proportionate share.

We believe that, as of January 31, 2023, in the event we become legally obligated to perform under a guarantee of an obligation of an unconsolidated entity due to a triggering event, the collateral in such entity should be sufficient to repay a significant portion of the obligation. If it is not, we and our partners would need to contribute additional capital to the venture.

(1)    At January 31, 2023 and October 31, 2022, our maximum estimated exposure under repayment and carry cost guarantees includes approximately $95.0 million and $95.0 million, respectively, related to our unconsolidated Joint Venture VIEs.

The maximum exposure estimates presented above do not take into account any recoveries from the underlying collateral or any reimbursement from our partners. In addition, they do not include any potential exposures related to project completion guarantees or the indemnities noted above, which are not estimable. We have not made payments under any of the outstanding guarantees, nor have we been called upon to do so.

We have both unconsolidated and consolidated joint venture-related variable interests in VIEs. Information regarding our involvement in unconsolidated joint-venture related variable interests in VIEs has been disclosed throughout information presented above.

The table below provides information as of January 31, 2023 and October 31, 2022, regarding our consolidated joint venture-related variable interests in VIEs ($ amounts in thousands):

Our ownership interest in the above consolidated Joint Venture VIEs ranges from 80% to 98%.

As shown above, we are the primary beneficiary of certain VIEs due to our controlling financial interest in such ventures as we have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the joint ventures’ performance and the obligation to absorb expected losses or receive benefits from the joint ventures. The assets of these VIEs can only be used to settle the obligations of the VIEs. In addition, in certain of the joint ventures, in the event additional contributions are required to be funded to the joint ventures prior to the admission of any additional investor at a future date, we will fund 100% of such contributions, including our partner’s pro rata share, which we expect would be funded through an interest-bearing loan. For other VIEs, we are not the primary beneficiary because the power to direct the activities of such VIEs that most significantly impact their performance was either shared by us and such VIEs’ other partners or such activities were controlled by our partner. For VIEs where the power to direct significant activities is shared, business plans, budgets, and other major decisions are required to be unanimously approved by all partners. Management and other fees earned by us are nominal and believed to be at market rates, and there is no significant economic disproportionality between us and other partners.

The Condensed Combined Balance Sheets, as of the dates indicated, and the Condensed Combined Statements of Operations, for the periods indicated, for the unconsolidated entities in which we have an investment are included below (in thousands):

We are party to a $650.0 million senior unsecured term loan facility (the “Term Loan Facility”) with a syndicate of banks. On October 31, 2021, we entered into term loan extension agreements to extend the maturity date of $548.4 million of outstanding term loans from November 1, 2025 to November 1, 2026, with the remainder of the term loans remaining due November 1, 2025. At January 31, 2023, other than $101.6 million of term loans that were scheduled to mature on November 1, 2025, there were no payments required before the final maturity date on the Term Loan Facility. At January 31, 2023, the interest rate on the Term Loan Facility was 5.37% per annum. We and substantially all of our 100%-owned home building subsidiaries are guarantors under the Term Loan Facility. The Term Loan Facility contains substantially the same financial covenants as the Revolving Credit Facility described below.

On February 14, 2023, we entered into an amendment to the Term Loan Facility to extend the maturity date of $487.5 million of outstanding term loans to February 14, 2028, with $60.9 million due on November 1, 2026 and the remaining $101.6 million due on November 1, 2025. In addition, this amendment replaced the LIBOR-based interest rate provisions applicable to borrowings under the Term Loan Facility with Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”)-based interest rate provisions.

In November 2020, we entered into five interest rate swap transactions to hedge $400.0 million of the Term Loan Facility. The interest rate swaps effectively fix the interest cost on the $400.0 million at 0.369% plus the spread set forth in the pricing schedule in the Term Loan Facility through October 2025. The spread at January 31, 2023 was 0.80%. These interest rate swaps were designated as cash flow hedges.

At January 31, 2023, we had a $1.905 billion, senior unsecured revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Credit Facility”) with a syndicate of banks. On October 31, 2021, we entered into extension letter agreements which extended the maturity date of $1.78 billion of the revolving loans and commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility from November 1, 2025 to November 1, 2026, with the remainder of the revolving loans and commitments terminating on November 1, 2025. We and substantially all of our 100%-owned home building subsidiaries were guarantors under the Revolving Credit Facility.

Under the terms of the Revolving Credit Facility, at January 31, 2023, our maximum leverage ratio, as defined, was not permitted to exceed 1.75 to 1.00, and we were required to maintain a minimum tangible net worth, as defined, of no less than approximately $4.00 billion. Under the terms of the Revolving Credit Facility, at January 31, 2023, our leverage ratio was approximately 0.38 to 1.00, and our tangible net worth was approximately $6.15 billion. Based upon the terms of the Revolving Credit Facility, our ability to repurchase our common stock was limited to approximately $3.55 billion as of January 31, 2023. In addition, under the provisions of the Revolving Credit Facility, our ability to pay cash dividends was limited to approximately $2.15 billion as of January 31, 2023.

At January 31, 2023, we had no outstanding borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility and had approximately $120.4 million of outstanding letters of credit that were issued under the Revolving Credit Facility. At January 31, 2023, the interest rate on outstanding borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility would have been 5.67% per annum.

On February 14, 2023, we entered into a new five-year senior unsecured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of banks that is scheduled to terminate on February 14, 2028. The new agreement provides for a revolving credit facility with committed borrowing capacity of $1.905 billion. The terms of the new credit facility are substantially the same as those of the Revolving Credit Facility, except that the LIBOR-based interest rate provisions have been replaced with SOFR-based provisions. As with the Revolving Credit Facility, Toll Brothers, Inc. and substantially all of its home building subsidiaries are guarantors of the borrower’s obligations under the new credit facility. In connection with the execution of the new revolving credit facility, the Revolving Credit Facility was terminated.

“Loans payable – other” primarily represents purchase money mortgages on properties we acquired that the seller had financed, project-level financing, and various revenue bonds that were issued by government entities on our behalf to finance community infrastructure and our manufacturing facilities. At January 31, 2023, the weighted-average interest rate on “Loans payable – other” was 4.19% per annum.

At January 31, 2023, we had five issues of senior notes outstanding with an aggregate principal amount of $2.00 billion.

In our first quarter of fiscal 2022, we redeemed the remaining $409.9 million principal amount of 5.875% Senior Notes due February 15, 2022, at par, plus accrued interest.

Toll Brothers Mortgage Company (“TBMC”), our wholly owned mortgage subsidiary, has a mortgage warehousing agreement (the “Warehousing Agreement”) with a bank, which has been amended from time to time, to finance the origination of mortgage loans by TBMC. The Warehousing Agreement is accounted for as a secured borrowing under ASC 860, “Transfers and Servicing.” The Warehousing Agreement provides for loan purchases up to $75.0 million, subject to certain sublimits. In addition, the Warehousing Agreement provides for an accordion feature under which TBMC may request that the aggregate commitments under the Warehousing Agreement be increased to an amount up to $150.0 million for a short period of time. In April 2022, the Warehousing Agreement was amended and restated to extend the expiration date to March 31, 2023 and borrowings thereunder bear interest at the Bloomberg Short-Term Bank Yield Index Rate (“BSBY”) plus 1.75% per annum (with a BSBY floor of 0.50%). At January 31, 2023, the interest rate on the Warehousing Agreement was 6.26% per annum.

Since fiscal 2014, we have received water intrusion claims from owners of homes built since 2002 in communities located in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Our recorded estimated repair costs to resolve these claims were approximately $45.6 million at January 31, 2023 and $46.9 million at October 31, 2022, and are included in the Warranty accrued expense above. We continue

to perform review procedures to assess, among other things, the number of affected homes, whether repairs are likely to be required, and the extent of such repairs.

Our review process, conducted quarterly, includes an analysis of many factors to determine whether a claim is likely to be received and the estimated costs to resolve any such claim, including: the closing dates of the homes; the number of claims received; our inspection of homes; an estimate of the number of homes we expect to repair; the type and cost of repairs that have been performed in each community; the estimated costs to remediate pending and future claims; the expected recovery from our insurance carriers and suppliers; and the previously recorded amounts related to these claims. We also monitor legal developments relating to these types of claims and review the volume, relative merits and adjudication of claims in litigation or arbitration. Our review process includes a number of estimates that are based on assumptions with uncertain outcomes. Due to the degree of judgment required in making these estimates and the inherent uncertainty in potential outcomes, it is reasonably possible that our actual costs and recoveries could differ from those recorded and such differences could be material. In addition, due to such uncertainty, we are unable to estimate the range of any such differences.

We recorded income tax provisions of $62.3 million and $48.9 million for the three months ended January 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The effective tax rate was 24.5% for the three months ended January 31, 2023, compared to 24.4% for the three months ended January 31, 2022. The income tax provisions for all periods included the provision for state income taxes, interest accrued on anticipated tax assessments, and excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation.

We are subject to state tax in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We estimate our state tax liability based upon the individual taxing authorities’ regulations, estimates of income by taxing jurisdiction, and our ability to utilize certain tax-saving strategies. Based on our estimate of the allocation of income or loss among the various taxing jurisdictions and changes in tax regulations and their impact on our tax strategies, we estimate that our state income tax rate for the full fiscal year 2023 will be approximately 5.7%. Our state income tax rate for the full fiscal year 2022 was 5.6%.

At January 31, 2023, we had $5.3 million of gross unrecognized tax benefits, including interest and penalties. If these unrecognized tax benefits were to reverse in the future, they would have a beneficial impact on our effective tax rate at that time. During the next 12 months, it is reasonably possible that our unrecognized tax benefits will change, but we are not able to provide a range of such change. The possible changes would be principally due to the expiration of tax statutes, settlements with taxing jurisdictions, increases due to new tax positions taken, and the accrual of estimated interest and penalties.

At January 31, 2023 and October 31, 2022, the aggregate unamortized value of unvested stock-based compensation awards was approximately $25.7 million and $15.5 million, respectively.

From time to time since fiscal 2017, our Board of Directors has renewed its authorization to repurchase up to 20 million shares of our common stock in open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions (including accelerated share repurchases), issuer tender offers or other financial arrangements or transactions. Most recently, on May 17, 2022, our Board of Directors renewed its authorization to repurchase 20 million shares of our common stock. Shares may be repurchased for general corporate purposes, including to obtain shares for the Company’s equity awards and other employee benefit plans. The Board of Directors did not fix any expiration date for this repurchase program.

During the three months ended January 31, 2023 and 2022, we declared and paid cash dividends of $0.20 and $0.17 per share, respectively, to our shareholders.

At January 31, 2023 and October 31, 2022, the carrying value of cash and cash equivalents, escrow cash held by our wholly owned captive title company, and customer deposits held in escrow approximated fair value.

The fair values of the interest rate swap contracts are included in “Receivables, prepaid expenses and other assets” in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and are determined using widely accepted valuation techniques including discounted cash flow analysis based on the expected cash flows of each swap contract. Although the Company has determined that the significant inputs, such as interest yield curve and discount rate, used to value its interest rate swap contracts fall within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy, the credit valuation adjustments associated with our counterparties and our own credit risk utilize Level 3 inputs, such as estimates of current credit spreads to evaluate the likelihood of default by us and our counterparties. However, as of January 31, 2023, we have assessed the significance of the impact of the credit valuation adjustments on the overall valuation of our interest rate swap contract positions and have determined that the credit valuation adjustments were not significant to the overall valuation of our interest rate swap contracts. As a result, we have determined that our interest rate swap contracts valuations in their entirety are classified in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

At the end of the reporting period, we determine the fair value of our mortgage loans held for sale and the forward loan commitments we have entered into as a hedge against the interest rate risk of our mortgage loans and commitments using the market approach to determine fair value.

We recognize inventory impairment charges and land impairment charges based on the difference in the carrying value of the inventory and its fair value at the time of the evaluation. The fair value of the aforementioned inventory was determined using Level 3 criteria. Estimated fair value is primarily determined by discounting the estimated future cash flow of each community. In determining the fair value related to land impairments, we consider recent offers received, prices for land in recent comparable sales transactions, and other factors. We record land impairments related to land parcels we plan to sell to third parties within land sales and other cost of revenues. See Note 1, “Significant Accounting Policies – Inventory,” in our 2022 Form 10-K for additional information regarding our methodology for determining fair value. Impairments on operating communities were insignificant during the three-month periods ended January 31, 2023 and 2022 and, accordingly, we did not disclose the ranges of certain quantitative unobservable inputs utilized in determining the fair value of such impaired operating communities.

Management fee income from Land Development and Home Building Joint Ventures - net includes fees earned by our home building operations.

In the three-month periods ended January 31, 2023 and 2022, our apartment living operations earned fees from unconsolidated entities of $6.2 million and $4.8 million, respectively. Fees earned by our apartment living operations are included in income from ancillary businesses.

We are involved in various claims and litigation arising principally in the ordinary course of business. We believe that adequate provision for resolution of all current claims and pending litigation has been made and that the disposition of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and liquidity or on our financial condition.

At January 31, 2023, we also had purchase contracts to acquire land for apartment developments of approximately $278.7 million, of which we had outstanding deposits in the amount of $11.8 million. We intend to acquire and develop these projects in joint ventures with unrelated parties in the future.

We have additional land parcels under option that have been excluded from the aggregate purchase price since we do not believe that we will complete the purchase of these land parcels and no additional funds will be required from us to terminate these contracts.

At January 31, 2023, we had investments in a number of unconsolidated entities, were committed to invest or advance additional funds, and had guaranteed a portion of the indebtedness and/or loan commitments of these entities. See Note 3, “Investments in Unconsolidated Entities,” for more information regarding our commitments to these entities.

At January 31, 2023, we had outstanding surety bonds amounting to $812.3 million, primarily related to our obligations to governmental entities to construct improvements in our communities. We estimate that approximately $371.5 million of work remains on these improvements. We have an additional $271.3 million of surety bonds outstanding that guarantee other obligations. We do not believe that it is probable that any outstanding bonds will be drawn upon.

At January 31, 2023, we had outstanding letters of credit of $120.4 million under our Revolving Credit Facility. These letters of credit were issued to secure various financial obligations, including insurance policy deductibles and other claims, land deposits, and security to complete improvements in communities in which we are operating. We do not believe that it is probable that any outstanding letters of credit will be drawn upon.

At January 31, 2023, we had provided financial guarantees of $25.7 million related to fronted letters of credit to secure obligations related to certain of our insurance policy deductibles and other claims.

At January 31, 2023, we had agreements of sale outstanding to deliver 7,733 homes with an aggregate sales value of $8.58 billion.

Our mortgage subsidiary provides mortgage financing for a portion of our home closings. For those home buyers to whom our mortgage subsidiary provides mortgages, we determine whether the home buyer qualifies for the mortgage based upon information provided by the home buyer and other sources. For those home buyers who qualify, our mortgage subsidiary provides the home buyer with a mortgage commitment that specifies the terms and conditions of a proposed mortgage loan based upon then-current market conditions. Prior to the actual closing of the home and funding of the mortgage, the home buyer will lock in an interest rate based upon the terms of the commitment. At the time of rate lock, our mortgage subsidiary agrees to sell the proposed mortgage loan to one of several outside recognized mortgage financing institutions (“investors”) that is willing to honor the terms and conditions, including interest rate, committed to the home buyer. We believe that these investors have adequate financial resources to honor their commitments to our mortgage subsidiary.

Mortgage loans are sold to investors with limited recourse provisions derived from industry-standard representations and warranties in the relevant agreements. These representations and warranties primarily involve the absence of misrepresentations by the borrower or other parties, the appropriate underwriting of the loan and in some cases, a required minimum number of payments to be made by the borrower. The Company generally does not retain any other continuing interest related to mortgage loans sold in the secondary market.

We operate in the following five geographic segments, with current operations generally located in the states listed below: