Fortune magazine’s 2012 list of the nation’s 500 largest corporations is missing an industry that only five years ago placed 11 companies on it: Homebuilders.
In 2007, 11 builders made the list. In 2012, zero did.
The absence, the second in six years, is a clear representation of the severe contraction of the homebuilding industry since the housing bubble popped. But certain housing analysts remain bullish on housing, so we should witness the 2013 reunion of homebuilders and the Fortune 500. Right?
Well, let’s see: Long Beach, Calif.-based Molina Healthcare [stock MOH][/stock] came in at No. 500 on the list, with revenue of $4.8 billion. PulteGroup [stock PHM][/stock] and D.R. Horton [stock DHI][/stock], the last two builders to crack it, reported revenue of $4 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively, in 2011.
If Molina is an indication of the revenue required to purchase a ticket to the party, PulteGroup must boost 2012 revenue at least 20% and D.R. Horton 37%.
Not impossible, but it is improbable.
Check out the image below, created by HousingWire, to see just how quickly homebuilders were kicked out of the exclusive party.
