Standard Pacific Expects to Beat Analyst Predictions

Standard Pacific Corp., a major home builder in California, Texas, Arizona and Colorado, said Tuesday that it expects to exceed analysts’ earnings projections for the third quarter.

The Irvine company predicted that earnings will top 75 cents a share, 4 cents more than the average estimate of six analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. The home builder earned $16.2 million, or 54 cents a share, in the third quarter last year on revenue of $297.6 million.

Standard Pacific’s stock climbed to a 52-week high of $19.69 early in the trading session before closing at $19, up 38 cents a share, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Home builders’ stocks have rebounded this year on signs that mortgage rates have peaked. The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell last week to 7.88%. It was the seventh week in a row that rates have stayed below 8%, the longest stretch since the end of last year.

Standard Pacific said it had 396 new home orders in September, up 82% from the same month last year. Home orders for the quarter rose 30% to 1,113. More than half of the orders for the recent quarter were in California.