Legacy Housing Q2 2024 Earnings Report

Legacy Housing EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.65
• Consensus EPS: $0.58
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.07
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.60

Legacy Housing Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $42.50 million
• Expected Revenue: $46.35 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$3.85 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Legacy Housing Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q2 2024
• Date: 8/8/2024
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Friday, August 9, 2024
• Conference Call Time: 11:00AM ET

Legacy Housing (NASDAQ:LEGH) Corp. designs, builds and markets factory-built homes, focusing on both single-section and multi-section manufactured housing products. The company offers a range of floor plans and customization options, including energy-efficient features and accessible design elements. Its core business activities encompass in-house design, procurement of building materials, plant-based construction and nationwide distribution through an independent network of retail partners.

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Legacy Housing operates in key regions across the southeastern and southwestern United States. The company’s manufacturing facilities employ a lean‐production approach intended to reduce construction time and material waste, while maintaining quality control at each stage of the building process. Legacy Housing’s dealer network provides end-users with site planning, permitting assistance and financing options, enabling a seamless purchase experience from order to move-in.

Since its inception, Legacy Housing has focused on strategic expansion of its manufacturing capacity and retailer partnerships to support increasing demand for affordable, factory-built housing. The company’s leadership team has emphasized operational efficiency and customer service as drivers of growth, aiming to strengthen its position in the modular and manufactured home market.

Legacy Housing Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Product sales decreased 25.2% year-over-year due to lower unit volume, driven by declines in direct, park and inventory finance sales.
• Gross profit margin expanded to 31.9% from 29.8%, and net income rose 7.8% to $16.2 million with EPS up 8.7%.
• Consumer, MHP and dealer loan portfolios grew by $33.3 million combined, lifting interest income by 16% year-over-year.
• The company repurchased $3.5 million of shares in Q2 and its board authorized an additional $10 million for opportunistic buybacks.
• Management expects a Q3 ramp in production and shipments as Georgia delays clear, with retail finance applications up 34% and backlog strengthening.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Legacy Housing Corp second quarter 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I will now hand the conference over to your speaker today, Duncan Bates. Please go ahead.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Good morning. This is Duncan Bates, Legacy's President and CEO. Thanks for joining our second quarter 2024 conference call. Max Africk, Legacy's General Counsel, will read the safe harbor disclosure before getting started. Max?

[Max Africk, General Counsel at Legacy Housing Corp]

Thanks, Duncan. At the outset, I will remind our listeners that management's prepared remarks today will contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. Therefore, the company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements that is contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from management's current expectations, and therefore, we refer you to a more detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties in the company's annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any projections as to the company's future performance represents management's best estimates as of today's call. Legacy Housing assumes no obligation to update these projections in the future unless otherwise required by applicable law.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Thanks, Max. I'm joined today by Jeff Fiedelman, Legacy's Chief Financial Officer. Jeff will discuss our second quarter financial performance. Then I will provide additional corporate updates and open the call for Q&A. Jeff?

[Jeffrey Fiedelman, CFO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Thanks, Duncan. Product sales primarily consist of direct sales, commercial sales, inventory, finance sales, and retail store sales. Product sales decreased $10.7 million, or 25.2%, during the three months ended June 30th, 2024, as compared to the same period in 2023. This decrease was driven by a decrease in unit volume shipped, primarily in direct sales, mobile home park sales, and inventory finance sales categories. The decrease was partially offset by increased sales at our company-owned retail stores. For the three months ended June 30th, 2024, our net revenue per unit sold decreased 1.3% to $61,600 as compared to the same period in 2023, primarily due to a shift in product mix to smaller units.

[Jeffrey Fiedelman, CFO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Consumer, MHP, and dealer loans interest income increased $1.4 million, or 16.0%, during the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to the same period in 2023, due to growth in our loan portfolios. This increase was driven by increased balances in the MHP, consumer, and dealer loan portfolios. Between June 30, 2024, and June 30, 2023, our MHP loan portfolio increased by $16.6 million, our consumer loan portfolio increased by $15.8 million, and our dealer finance notes increased by $0.9 million. Other revenue primarily consists of contract deposit forfeitures, consignment fees, commercial lease rents, service fees, and other miscellaneous income, and decreased $0.8 million, or 45.5%, during the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to the same period in 2023.

[Jeffrey Fiedelman, CFO at Legacy Housing Corp]

This decrease was primarily due to a $1.0 million decrease in dealer finance fees, a $0.2 million decrease in commercial lease rents, partially offset by a $0.4 million increase in other miscellaneous revenue. Cost of product sales decreased $8.2 million, or 27.4%, during the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to the same period in 2023. The decrease in costs is primarily related to the decrease in units sold. Gross profit margin was 31.9% of product sales during the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to 29.8% during the three months ended June 30, 2023. Selling, general, and administrative expenses were flat during the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to the same period in 2023.

[Jeffrey Fiedelman, CFO at Legacy Housing Corp]

We had a $0.8 million decrease in warranty costs, a $0.7 million decrease in payroll and related expense, and a $0.2 million decrease in bad debt expense, offset by a $0.8 million increase in legal expense, a $0.4 million increase in property tax expense, a $0.2 million increase in loan loss provision, a $0.1 million increase in marketing expense, and a net $0.2 million increase in other miscellaneous expense. Other income expense increased $3.2 million, or 538.3%, during the three months ended June 30, 2024, as compared to the same period in 2023....

[Jeffrey Fiedelman, CFO at Legacy Housing Corp]

We had an increase of $2.6 million in miscellaneous income as a result of a gain of $1.3 million on the sale of real property in Georgia and a reversal of $1.3 million of accrued liabilities. We had an increase of $0.3 million in other miscellaneous income, and we had an increase of $0.3 million in interest income for other, for other notes receivables, net of allowances. Net income increased 7.8% to $16.2 million in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the second quarter of 2023. Basic earnings per share increased $0.05 per share, or 8.7%, in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the second quarter of 2023.

[Jeffrey Fiedelman, CFO at Legacy Housing Corp]

As of June 30, 2024, we had approximately $0.1 million in cash compared to $0.7 million as of December 31, 2023. The outstanding balance of the revolver as of June 30, 2024, and December 31, 2023, was $11.9 million and $23.7 million, respectively. At the end of the second quarter of 2024, Legacy's book value per basic share outstanding was $19.17, an increase of 13.2% from the same period in 2023. We repurchased 170,342 shares for $3.5 million during the three months ended June 30, 2024. On August 6, 2024, our board of directors authorized the repurchase of an additional $10.0 million of the company's common stock under the share repurchase program.

[Jeffrey Fiedelman, CFO at Legacy Housing Corp]

We will continue to repurchase shares opportunistically when the stock trades near liquidation value.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Thanks, Jeff. Our team continues to focus on product sales. We worked through delays in Georgia and with certain customers in Texas that pushed shipments into the third quarter. Our dealer business across most of the platform is strong. Some independent dealers are slow to move aged inventory. We launched a retail financing special to assist with this ahead of our fall show. Retail finance applications were up 34% from the second quarter of 2024 compared to the second quarter of 2023. Our community business has been impacted by higher interest rates for the past few quarters. Transaction volume, which drives demand as new owners work to increase rent rolls, is down and new development is slow. However, the market is improving. Our quote activity is up meaningfully since the first quarter.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

We're having success selling smaller HUD units and tiny homes to both MH and RV park owners, aiming to keep rent affordable and occupancy high. Legacy has a handful of large community customers who paused orders for the past 12 months or so. These customers are back ordering and taking deliveries. Product gross margins were 31.9% for the second quarter of 2024. I'm proud of our team's effort to manage margins at lower production volumes. We are disciplined on price and watching labor and overhead expenses closely. Our top priority for the remainder of 2024 is continuing to build our backlog, which will result in higher production volume. Our new sales team members are building customer relationships and signing orders. We increased production at our Georgia plant in July. As Jeff mentioned, we sold a property in Georgia during the second quarter.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

The sale positively impacted our results. Although one time in nature, investors will continue to see similar sales over the next few quarters. There are several real estate assets on our balance sheet, excluding our core developments, that have meaningful value. We receive zero credit for these assets in the public markets and will continue to monetize them. Although sales volumes are down in 2024, our lending portfolios continue to grow. From the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2024, interest revenue from MHP, retail finance, and floor plan financing is up 26.5%. Our delinquencies remain low and recovery rates are strong. On July 27, 2024, we signed a binding settlement agreement to resolve litigation with a long-term MHP customer. Under the agreement, the borrower will deed two mobile home parks with homes to Legacy.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Legacy will refinance the remaining debt in a new two-year note. The collateral and guarantors remain the same. We are finalizing the transfers and the new note and plan to discuss more details on the next earnings call. We view this as a very positive outcome for both parties. Investors following our story know that we have worked through multiple challenging situations over the last two years.... We're hands-on operators, and solving these complex problems takes significant time and energy. With most of yesterday's challenges behind us, we can focus on growing our core business. There are no more distractions. We have built a great team, everyone is contributing, and today I feel better about the company and our prospects than any other time since starting full-time in June 2022.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

I'm excited to show investors the earnings potential of this business as we push more volume through the plants this year. Operator, this concludes our prepared remarks. Please begin the Q&A.

[Operator]

Thank you. And as a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. One moment for our first question. Our first question will come from the line of Daniel Moore from CJS Securities. Your line is open.

[Dan Moore, Partner and Director of Research at CJS Securities]

Thank you, Duncan and Jeff. Thanks for taking the questions and all the color. Let me start with, is it possible to quantify, in ballpark terms, you know, the impact of the delays, the delayed shipments that referenced in Georgia and Texas in the quarter that are being pushed into Q3?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

You know, the bulk of that's in Georgia. We had shipments held up, you know, for a few weeks over there, and, you know, those obviously will get pushed into Q3. You know, I'd say, I don't have a specific number, you know. I just think that, you know, the backlog looks decent, but, you know, customers are struggling, especially on the park side, with permits and getting, you know, getting pads ready. You know, we just experienced some delays, where we thought, you know, hey, we'd get 30 homes out, and instead, you ship the first 10, and it takes them longer than expected to take the rest.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

I think, you know, the third quarter, you'll certainly see a ramp-up in shipments, but it was certainly slower than we would like this quarter.

[Dan Moore, Partner and Director of Research at CJS Securities]

That's helpful. Obviously, you know, retail finance app's up 34% is a great sign. You know, anything you can say in terms of order rates and/or changes of backlog during the quarter, either sequentially or year-over-year?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah, you know, Dan, we don't publish backlog, but we obviously follow it closely internally. I think, you know, this week, we probably we had one of the best sales weeks that we've had all year. And, you know, so we're excited to get, you know, back focused 100% on sales. You know, we've had a lot of distractions this year as we've cleaned up, you know, yesterday's problems. But, you know, I think that customers on both sides of the business are ordering. The outlook, you know, looks a lot better than it did at this time last summer. And, you know, we fought some, you know, challenges that are unique to us, but we're, you know, we're really, like, starting to push a lot of homes out the door, and we've got some big projects.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

You know, there's some projects that I think we're pretty close on, you know, that would be a game changer for us and really allow us to take production up. But we're just taking it day by day. We've got a lot of new salespeople that we've hired, you know, over the last 12 months, and it takes some time to get people trained and get them up to speed and, you know, have them really understand the product and really understand the financing solutions before they can contribute. And I'm happy with, you know, the direction that that's going.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

We've also implemented a new sales order system, you know, that we launched early this year, where we're now, you know, tracking all the details around quotes and orders and shipments, you know, in one system all the way through the process, so we can hold people accountable on the sales side. So a lot of things moving in the right direction. We've just got to stay focused and really push sales forward. I think another, in addition to the, you know, the retail finance applications, you know, being up pretty dramatically, you know, we do a fall show in Fort Worth every year. We're obviously tracking RSVPs to that show. It's our big sales event for the year, and we're way ahead of where we typically are from RSVPs.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

So we're, you know, we're pushing hard to get to the show, and we're expecting a pretty good show in late September.

[Dan Moore, Partner and Director of Research at CJS Securities]

Excellent, really helpful. Maybe one or two more, and I'll jump back in the queue. But, in terms of the litigation settlement, given the, the inflation that we've seen, you know, is it, is it possible that the value of those assets could be above or meaningfully above the, the loans against them? Just how do we think about any potential gains or losses there?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

... Yeah, you know, we've got to roll up our sleeves, and do the work, and we've spoken with the auditors about that. And so, you know, quantifying, putting those on the balance sheet is something that we're going to spend a lot of time on this quarter. You know, but I think, you know, we're in the assets right. We're talking about, you know, over 300 spaces with houses. And, you know, I think, I think there could be some upside, but we just, we've got to, we've got to get everything wrapped up, and, and get our team in there, and then figure out the best way to, to monetize the assets. We're not planning to own them long term.

[Dan Moore, Partner and Director of Research at CJS Securities]

Makes sense. And then lastly, any sense for, like, combined market value of the non-core real estate assets that you're in the process of divesting?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Well, you know, I'll give you an example. What we sold in this quarter, you know, was a group of warehouses that we had leased to some tenants at our Eatonton facility. And, you know, we essentially, I mean, we didn't pay much for that facility to start with. So I think when you can, you know, sell something for a $1.3 million gain that, you know, no one even realizes that you own is pretty important. And there's, you know, there are several, at least four or five real estate assets like that, in addition to, you know, a meaningfully sized portfolio of leased homes that have real value. So as we've...

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

You know, as Jeff and his team have really dug into the balance sheet, you know, we've got a list of opportunities, and we're just working through them. And this was the first real estate asset to, you know, to come off the balance sheet and for us to monetize.

[Dan Moore, Partner and Director of Research at CJS Securities]

Okay. Really helpful, Duncan. I will jump back with any follow-ups. Thank you.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah. Thanks, Dan.

[Operator]

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of Mark Smith from Lake Street. Your line is open.

[Mark Smith, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street]

Hi, guys. First one for me, just looking at the MHP loan portfolio here. You know, sequentially, stayed pretty flat, but it looks like maybe the actual rate maybe came down a little bit. Can you just talk about that portfolio in, especially in a declining rate environment, maybe, you know, what we should look for on kind of interest rates coming from that portfolio of MHP loans?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah, sure. I, I think, you know, park sales have been down, right? And so if we're selling less park model homes to communities, you've got less financing opportunities. And so, you know, the growth in that portfolio was pretty robust, you know, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022. 2023, park business started slowing down, you know, as the full effect of interest rates, you know, carried over into the real estate transactions. And so the, you know, the park business has been slower, and, the portfolio has been growing slower than it had, you know, the prior three or four years. You know, as far as interest rates go, the way that that product works is there's a 2-year fixed rate, and then it flips to variable.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

As notes flip to variable, the interest rate, you know, will increase, and there are certain loans, you know, in that book that will start to flip this year. We've used, you know, during slower times, I mean, we've used financing concessions to drive volume. Tends to be a period of no payments, so these park owners can get homes in and get them set and get them rented before they start paying on the houses. But, you know, the interest rates or the starting rates, you know, tend to be in line. What we have seen, though, is we will offer a little bit better rate for that two-year fixed period if buyers put down a higher down payment.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

So we, you know, we have seen people say, "Hey, I've got... You know, my customer in these communities is tapped out at $1,200 a month, and, you know, I need to make $X hundred a month in lot rent, to support the real estate asset. And so I need houses in here that I can keep, you know, the, the overall payment affordable." And so we've seen a shift to smaller homes, but we've also seen a shift toward, you know, people putting a higher down payment, so their monthly payment to us is lower to keep the homes affordable.

[Mark Smith, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street]

And then, I don't know if you're able to talk about it today, but can you talk about the settlement and any change that this has? I know that there was some refinancing of that note that was out there. Any impact that this has on the MHP notes as we kind of see them reported in GAAP accounting?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

... Well, it's, you know, this is a longtime customer. We've done business with him and his his partners for over 12 years. And he's got a nice portfolio, and it was an unfortunate situation how we, you know, ended up here. But I think, you know, look, it was complex. There were, you know, a lot of feelings, a lot of history there. And so it's taken a lot of, a lot of time, you know, to put this deal together, and I think it's a win, you know, for both parties.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

And so, you know, essentially, you know, the two parks that are coming to us will reduce the balance on a new note, and we'll wrap up, you know, notes that are in the MHP portfolio and in the development portfolio and refinance those into one note, that's drafted in accordance with Louisiana law, where all of the collateral is located.

[Mark Smith, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street]

All right. So a little bit of strength-

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

So I guess long way of saying that, you know, you're going from, say, 60-70 individual MHP and development notes, you know, down to one note.

[Mark Smith, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street]

Okay. Okay, so kind of a consolidation. But it, but at the same time, it, it sounds like you, you get these, these couple of parks, but that loan, that refinance loan is, is a smaller piece than what it was on the books before.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

That's right. You know, and I think from their side, right, it gives them, gives them time to refinance, sell assets, you know, and, and, and, and get us paid back.

[Mark Smith, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street]

Yeah. And, the last one for me, Duncan, was just looking at the gross profit margin, you know, on product sales was really pretty solid here in the quarter. Can you just talk about sustainability of that? It sounds like you've, you know, ramped up production in Georgia a little bit, but are there any cost pressures? What are you seeing on labor, input costs? Anything that we should be looking at as we think about gross profit margin going forward?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Sure. Yeah, I mean, I'm really proud of the team for keeping it at those levels, you know, just given the production volume. I think we can maintain it. You know, we took production up in Georgia. We're pushing really hard to take it up in Texas. We've hit some, you know, we've been close, hit some air pockets, but orders were looking, you know, pretty strong the past couple weeks, so that's a good sign. I think the, you know, the hardest thing to manage is labor. I think, you know, all companies struggle with labor inflation. I don't think wages are coming down anytime soon, and so we've been really disciplined with our pricing. We've had some—you know, we've reduced our raw material inventory.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

We've got a ways to go, but we've been able to take advantage of, you know, some materials coming down. But the big one is labor, and holding price. And so I think if we can, you know, we can push production volume higher, which we will be able to do this year, you know, we should be able to maintain, you know, gross margins, product gross margins that are, you know, at similar levels.

[Mark Smith, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street]

Okay. Perfect. Thank you.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Thanks, Mark.

[Operator]

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question will come from the line of Jay McCanless from Wedbush. Your line is open.

[Jay McCanless, SVP at Wedbush]

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Pretty much-

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Hey, Jay.

[Jay McCanless, SVP at Wedbush]

Gone through everything that I had. Just on the repurchase, nice to see that step up sequentially from one Q to two Q. Maybe how, how are you guys thinking about that on a quarterly run rate going forward?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah. You know, we've got support from the board to continue buying stock. You know, we're not going to come out and say, "Hey, every quarter, you know, we're gonna repurchase a certain amount of stock." We don't think that that's, you know, necessarily the best way to allocate capital. But we are going to repurchase opportunistically. So we're gonna run a calculation internally each quarter that identifies our, you know, our – what we calculate as our liquidation value. And when the stock trades down to those levels, we'll buy as much back as we can. And if we go through this authorization, you know, we'll ask the board for another one. But, you know, I think the buybacks have been well received.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

I feel great about the prices that we're - and the volumes that we were able to repurchase stock, you know, in the first and second quarter, and we're just - we'll keep an eye on it. And when it hits certain levels, we'll be aggressive.

[Jay McCanless, SVP at Wedbush]

Okay. That sounds great. And then, the liability reversal in the quarter, was that a one-off thing, or, or should we expect more of that going forward?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

You know, I'd kind of throw that in the camp with some of these asset sales. You know, Jeff and his team, you know, now that we've got a great team on the accounting and SEC reporting side, and, you know, they're really digging in. So as they, you know, find older things on our balance sheet that don't make sense anymore, you know, they're gonna clean those up. And so there's, you know, items on both sides of the balance sheet. It's not all, you know, lopsided. But, you know, we're getting the balance sheet cleaned up, and we're gonna sell assets that we don't get credit for and don't use.

[Operator]

Okay, that sounds great. Thanks. Appreciate it.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah, thanks, Jay.

[Operator]

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes from the line of George Melas-Kyriazi from MKH Management. Your line is open.

[George Melas-Kyriazi, Analyst at MKH Management]

Great. Thank you. Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my question. Just a quick. Hi, Duncan. You guys talked a little bit about the production, about things sort of working out better at the plant, about increasing production in Georgia. Can you just provide a little bit more color on the plants, how things are going from a production level, quality basis? Sort of give us a sense of how happy you are and where you think you could be in six months there.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

George, I've been living and breathing Georgia for two years, and we have made some significant progress in Georgia. As far as you know, the first step was, you've got to clean—you know, we have to fix your quality issues, and we fixed those. The houses coming out of Georgia now, you know, are just as good as anything we're building in Texas. So I'm really proud of the team, you know, and their efforts in working with the regulators and, you know, to get the quality to where it needs to be. Then, you know, the second, first you have to fix the quality, then you've got to go out and resolve, you know, sins of the past with homes that, you know, have issues.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

And so we've spent a tremendous amount of time and money doing that. And as you do that, you know, you start to win back some customers. And, you know, we have an entirely new sales team in Georgia, and they've been here for, I'd say, in some cases, a year, some less than a year. But it's, you know, full of young professionals, you know, who see the opportunity, and they're starting to, you know, really get something going on the sales side. You know, we've had to win new customers. We've had to win, you know, relationships back with customers that had problems with houses. We've had to, you know, rebuild a dealer base over there, and I feel, you know, good about where Georgia stands today, and we've just...

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

We've gotta, we've gotta keep the momentum. The Georgia sales team is really firing, and they're all excited, and so we just, we gotta keep pushing. We took production up one house a day in July. You know, we didn't have to. You know, I think we had maybe we're a little heavy on labor there already to keep good people. And so, you know, we're right-sizing Georgia. It's moving in the right direction. The Southeast, you know, is the market seems to be pretty strong. And I think as you have, you know, storm activity through hurricane season, we, you know, we may get lucky with some big projects over there.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

I think one interesting thing that the Georgia team has done is, you know, they've targeted RV park owners with our tiny home products. And, you know, we've been able to build some customer relationships that look like they're turning into whales, you know, where they're able to get these houses in and, you know, in many cases, have them rented before they're even set up, and, you know, are calling us back and ordering more houses. So a lot of good things coming out of Georgia, you know, but we've gotta keep our head down and keep moving in the right direction.

[George Melas-Kyriazi, Analyst at MKH Management]

Okay. That's a pretty good update. Just, just remind us, in Georgia, is it primarily park sales historically, or what's, what's sort of the mix of sales there? And maybe also give us just a very brief update on the Texas plant?

[George Melas-Kyriazi, Analyst at MKH Management]

Yeah, Georgia, you know, we have some big park customers over there. You know, we've had to rebuild a dealer base, and we've got, you know, we've got some work to do, you know, with dealers. Some of the new sales guys are, you know, hitting the road and coming back with applications, and, you know, that's encouraging. But, you know, I'd say most of the sales in Georgia, right now are park sales. As far as Texas goes, you know, 2 plants in Texas, you know, also a lot of new faces on the sales team. People starting to hit, you know, hit their stride. We've got some dealers that are, you know, that are just knocking the ball out of the park in Texas.

[George Melas-Kyriazi, Analyst at MKH Management]

Then we've got others that, you know, I'd say haven't, you know, haven't moved to a more, you know, modern-based sales approach using the internet and technology that are a little behind. And so, we're, you know, trying to help them. And the park business has been slower in Texas, but orders have been picking up, you know, over the past couple weeks, and we're really, you know, pushing. So a lot of things moving in the right direction, but, you know, we've got to show up next quarter and the following, you know, with that reflected in the numbers.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

I think now that we've gotten through, you know, a lot of these larger distractions, we'll be able to do that.

[George Melas-Kyriazi, Analyst at MKH Management]

Okay, great. And then maybe just a quick update on your own dealerships. I think you have 12. I can't exactly remember the number.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah, we have 12, we have 12 dealerships. I'd say we're, you know, making more changes to those, you know, to the way that we operate those right now than we probably have in the last five years. So, you know, we've really embraced technology and internet marketing, and, you know, we're starting to see some success. We've got some stores that are really outperforming and some stores that are underperforming, and, we've, you know, we've got to keep the hammer down, there too. I mean, I think if I'm an investor looking at Legacy, you know, the, the retail business has underperformed for, you know, for years now, and I, I see that as a, as a real opportunity. You know, we see our larger competitors, right, with big dealer, you know, company-owned stores and, and large footprints, and they're making it work.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

And this is certainly a, you know, a fixable piece of our business. You know, we just had to... You know, our focus was elsewhere, and, you know, we're on it now, and I'm excited, you know, with some of the things that the team's coming back with.

[George Melas-Kyriazi, Analyst at MKH Management]

Sounds great. Best of luck. Thank you.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah. Thanks, George.

[Operator]

Thank you. One moment for our next question. Our next question comes Alex Rygiel from the line B. Riley Securities Your line is open.

[Alex Rygiel, Senior Research Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Thanks, and good morning, Duncan. It sounds like you're calling sort of an inflection point here positively in shipments and demand. Do you think this is more company specific, or do you see it improving kind of more on a macro basis across the entire sector?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

You know, I'd say after, you know, seeing our larger competitors report this week, you know, I think everybody's pretty upbeat. Skyline had a big week, you know, big sales numbers. And so I think, you know, the market is improving. It's not, you know, it's not as great as we would, you know, we would like it, but it certainly seems to be moving in the right direction. You know, I think our, you know, our sales numbers show that, you know, we've been dealing with a lot of challenges that have distracted us from, you know, really, really managing the sales team closely and spending a lot of time with customers. And, you know, that's what I'm excited about for the second half of the year.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

So a long way of saying, I think the market is improving, you know, but, but there are, you know, legacy-specific issues that we've been addressing, and I think this is an inflection point.

[Alex Rygiel, Senior Research Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Some of the larger production home builders are using aggressive incentives and discounting to drive volume, and they're seeing great success with that. You've held margin here, but, obviously, volume has weakened. As the market comes back or as your unit volume picks up, do you think you'll be giving up any margin to drive some of that incremental growth?

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah, it's something we're, you know, we're discussing now. The margins do look great. You know, we haven't used the price lever. I think, you know, a lot of our larger competitors have used the price lever. But we're mindful that, you know, I don't think labor's coming down, and, you know, we'll see what materials do. So something we're, you know, we're talking about right now as we get ready for the show here in late September.

[Alex Rygiel, Senior Research Analyst at B. Riley Securities]

Thank you.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Thanks, Alex.

[Operator]

Thank you. One moment. As a reminder, that's star one one for questions, star one one. We have a follow-up from the line of Daniel Moore from CJS Securities. Your line is open.

[Dan Moore, Partner and Director of Research at CJS Securities]

Thank you again. You know, probably related to the last question, but, you know, ASPs, after obviously several quarters of declines, flattened out and, you know, your expectations going forward? Thanks.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah. Thanks, Dan. I think that's right. I think we've hit a bottom. You know, we went through several quarters where there was a shift on both the dealer side of the business and the park side of the business to smaller, more affordable homes. You know, affordability is a problem throughout, you know, the entire housing market, not just first-time home buyers buying stick-built homes. And so I think, though, you know, that the ASP declines have flattened out and, you know, should be pretty stable for the rest of the year.

[Dan Moore, Partner and Director of Research at CJS Securities]

Excellent. And maybe the last one is, you know, throughout the sort of rise in interest rates, the cost advantage continues to widen between not only MH and stick-built, but you know, obviously, you focused on kind of the lower end price points as well. In a declining, you know, if interest rates do pull in a little bit as you know forecast here over the next few quarters, is that, you know, do you see that as a net benefit or, you know, positive or negative, just kind of net of those crosscurrents? Thanks again.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Yeah, you know, we see interest rates really impacting the park side of our business. I mean, chattel rates haven't, you know, increased as much as traditional mortgage rates have. And I think the availability of financing for this customer base is pretty broad with some of the larger players. And so, you know, I think as interest rates come down, either in September or there's indications that they will come down, you know, I think the park guys who are evaluating these, like, real estate assets, right? They'll start to move quicker and say, "Okay, well, I can get in this thing and, you know, refinance in the next 18 or 24 months," and that'll drive volume for the park side of our business.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

But, you know, our entire business is built around offering a quality product and a financing solution to our customer that keeps this product affordable. And, you know, we, like, that is the key, is keeping it affordable. And so I think that, you know, there will be a buyer for this product. I think there's, you know, other goods and services will continue to be more expensive, and more of their discretionary income will go to other areas. And, you know, there'll be demand for this product going forward, regardless of the interest rate environment.

[Dan Moore, Partner and Director of Research at CJS Securities]

Makes sense. I appreciate the color again.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Thanks, Dan.

[Operator]

Thank you. I'm not showing any further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn it back over to Duncan for any closing remarks.

[Duncan Bates, CEO at Legacy Housing Corp]

Thank you for joining today's earnings call. We appreciate your interest in Legacy Housing. We're hosting our fall show in Fort Worth on September 23rd and 24th. We've got a link on our website. I encourage you to come out, see. We'll probably have 15 houses set up, fully furnished, you know, hundreds of customers there, speeches on our financing products, and the industry. It's gonna be a great event. I'd encourage anyone who's interested in learning more about the company or our products or seeing some of the updates to the products, to come out. Operator, this concludes our call.

Participants

Executives

• Duncan Bates, CEO
• Jeffrey Fiedelman, CFO
• Max Africk, General Counsel

Analysts

• Alex Rygiel, Senior Research Analyst at B. Riley Securities
• Dan Moore, Partner and Director of Research at CJS Securities
• George Melas-Kyriazi, Analyst at MKH Management
• Jay McCanless, SVP at Wedbush
• Mark Smith, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street