1200 ET - Housing activity is continuing to slow and dragging down homebuilders' margins, Seaport analyst Kenneth Zener says. Weak job growth undermines the analyst's previous confidence that demand was stabilizing. That lower demand extends builders' margin stability outlook and increases the probability of single-family housing starts bottoming out below past cycles' trough of 909,000. Zener lowers ratings on all builders, with 15% downside expected for names including Lennar, KB Home, NVR, PulteGroup and Taylor Morrison. "What we interpreted as a bottoming process, akin to prior cycles last year, appears less so now," Zener says, adding that recent stock declines aren't enough to make the sector compelling. (nicholas.miller@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 07, 2026 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)

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