for-20230930

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K


(Mark One)
☒			ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2023


☐			TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Transition Period From To

Commission File Number: 001-33662

Forestar Group Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)


Delaware						26-1336998
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)						(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

2221 E. Lamar Blvd., Suite 790, Arlington, Texas 76006

(Address of Principal Executive Offices, including Zip Code)

(817) 769-1860

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of Each Class

Trading Symbol

Name of Each Exchange On Which Registered

Common Stock, par value $1.00 per share

FOR

New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ¨ No þ

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No þ

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes þ No ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer

☐

Accelerated filer

Non-accelerated filer

Smaller reporting company

☐

Emerging growth company

☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C.7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No þ

As of March 31, 2023, the aggregate market value of the registrant's common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $283 million based on the closing price as reported on the New York Stock Exchange.

As of November 13, 2023, there were 49,909,713 shares of Common Stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant's proxy statement for its 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

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FORESTAR GROUP INC.

2023 ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS


		Page
PART I
Item 1.	Business	3
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	11
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	23
Item 2.	Properties	23
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	23
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	23

PART II
Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	24
Item 6.	[Reserved]	25
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	26
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	36
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	37
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	59
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	59
Item 9B.	Other Information	59
Item 9C.	Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections	59

PART III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	60
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	60
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	60
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	60
Item 14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services	60

PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules	61
Item 16.	10-K Summary	63

SIGNATURES		64

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PART I

Item 1. Business.

Overview

Forestar Group Inc. is a national, well-capitalized residential lot development company focused primarily on making investments in land acquisition and development to sell finished single-family residential lots to homebuilders. Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “FOR.” The terms “Forestar,” the “Company,” “we” and “our” used herein refer to Forestar Group Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its predecessors and subsidiaries.

We conduct a wide range of project planning and management activities related to the entitlement, acquisition, community development and sale of residential lots. We generally secure entitlements while the land is under contract by creating plans that meet the needs of the markets where we operate, and we aim to have all entitlements secured before closing on the investment. Moving land through the entitlement and development process creates significant value. We primarily invest in entitled short-duration projects that can be developed in phases, enabling us to complete and sell lots at a pace that matches market demand, consistent with our focus on maximizing capital efficiency and returns. This strategy is a unique, lower-risk business model that we expect will produce more consistent returns than other public and private land developers. We also make short-term strategic investments in finished lots (lot banking) and undeveloped land (land banking) with the intent to sell these assets within a short time period to utilize available capital prior to its deployment into longer-term lot development projects. For the year ended September 30, 2023, we sold 14,040 lots with an average sales price of $90,900. At September 30, 2023, our lot position consisted of 79,200 residential lots, of which approximately 52,400 were owned and 26,800 were controlled through purchase contracts. Of our 52,400 owned lots, approximately 15,000 lots are under contract to be sold for an aggregate remaining sales price of approximately $1.3 billion.

We have expanded and diversified our lot development operations across 54 markets in 22 states by investing available capital into our existing markets and by entering new markets. We believe our geographically diverse operations provide a strong platform for us to consolidate market share in the highly fragmented lot development industry. We also believe our geographic diversification lowers our operational risks and enhances our earnings potential by mitigating the effects of local and regional economic cycles.

Our customers are primarily local, regional and national homebuilders. The lots we deliver in our communities are primarily for entry-level, first-time move-up and active adult homes. Entry-level and first-time move-up homebuyers are the largest segments of the new home market. We also market some of our communities towards build-to-rent operators.

Our real estate origins date back to the 1954 incorporation of Lumbermen’s Investment Corporation, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the predecessor to Temple-Inland Inc. ("Temple-Inland") in 1971. We changed our name to Forestar Real Estate Group Inc. after Temple-Inland began reporting us as a separate business segment in 2006, and in 2007, Temple-Inland completed a tax-free distribution of our shares to its stockholders, making us an independent publicly-traded company. In 2008, we changed our name from Forestar Real Estate Group Inc. to Forestar Group Inc. We became a majority-owned subsidiary of D.R. Horton, Inc. ("D.R. Horton") in October 2017 by virtue of a merger with a wholly-owned subsidiary of D.R. Horton. Immediately following the merger, D.R. Horton owned 75% of our outstanding common stock, and as of September 30, 2023 they owned approximately 63% of our outstanding common stock. As our controlling shareholder, D.R. Horton has significant influence in guiding our strategic direction and operations. In connection with the merger, we entered into certain agreements with D.R. Horton including a Stockholder’s Agreement, a Master Supply Agreement and a Shared Services Agreement. Under the terms of the Master Supply Agreement, we supply finished lots to D.R. Horton at market terms offered by Forestar and both companies identify land development opportunities to expand our portfolio of assets.

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We manage our operations through our real estate segment. Our national footprint provides diversification in our real estate investments and our sources of revenues and earnings. At September 30, 2023, we conducted our operations in the states and markets listed below.

State

Market

State

Market

Alabama

Birmingham

Minnesota

Minneapolis/St. Paul

Huntsville

Mobile/Baldwin County

Nevada

Las Vegas

Tuscaloosa

Reno

Arizona

Phoenix

New Jersey

Southern New Jersey

Tucson

New Mexico

Santa Fe

California

Riverside County

North Carolina

Asheville

Colorado

Denver

Charlotte

Fort Collins

Greensboro

Greenville

Florida

Fort Myers/Naples

Raleigh-Durham

Gainesville

Wilmington

Jacksonville

Lakeland

Ohio

Columbus

Melbourne

Cincinnati

Miami/Fort Lauderdale

Ocala

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

Orlando

Pensacola

South Carolina

Charleston

Port St. Lucie

Greenville/Spartanburg

Tampa/Sarasota

Hilton Head

Volusia County

West Palm Beach

Tennessee

Nashville

Georgia

Atlanta

Texas

Austin

Augusta

Dallas

Savannah

Fort Worth

Houston

Illinois

Chicago

San Antonio

Indiana

Indianapolis

Washington

Seattle/Tacoma/Everett

Iowa

Des Moines

West Virginia

Eastern West Virginia

Maryland

Suburban Washington, D.C.

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When evaluating new or existing markets for purposes of capital allocation, we consider local, market-specific factors, including, among others:

•economic conditions;

•employment levels and job growth;

•housing demand and affordability;

•availability of land and lots in desirable locations on acceptable terms;

•land entitlement and development processes;

•availability of qualified subcontractors;

•new and secondary home sales activity;

•competition; and

•performance capabilities of our local management teams.

Business Operations

The majority of our real estate projects are single-family residential communities. We primarily purchase land in the open market and install the necessary infrastructure to develop the land into finished residential lots for single-family homes. Our customers are primarily local, regional and national homebuilders. Our managers are responsible for the following activities related to our land and lot acquisition and development activities:

•site selection, which involves:

–a feasibility study;

–soil and environmental reviews;

–review of existing zoning and other governmental requirements;

–review of the need for and extent of offsite work required to obtain project entitlements and to complete necessary infrastructure; and

–financial analysis of the potential project;

•negotiating land acquisition, lot purchase and related contracts;

•obtaining all necessary land development approvals;

•selecting land development subcontractors and ensuring their work meets our contracted scopes;

•planning and managing land development schedules;

•determining the sales pricing for each lot in a given project;

•developing and implementing marketing and sales plans; and

•coordinating all interactions with customers throughout the lot sale process.

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Our corporate executives and corporate office personnel provide control and oversight functions to many important risk elements in our operations, including:

•allocation of capital;

•cash management;

•review and approval of business plans and budgets;

•review, approval and funding of land and lot acquisitions (Board of Directors must approve acquisitions greater than $20 million in accordance with the Stockholder's Agreement);

•environmental assessments of land and lot acquisitions;

•review of all business and financial analysis for potential land and lot inventory investments;

•oversight of land and lot inventory levels;

•monitoring and analysis of profitability, returns and costs; and

•review of major personnel decisions and incentive compensation plans.

Our corporate executives and office personnel are responsible for establishing our operational policies and internal control standards and monitoring compliance with established policies and controls throughout our operations. We have a Shared Services Agreement with D.R. Horton whereby D.R. Horton provides us with certain administrative, compliance, operational and procurement services. Our corporate executives and office personnel are responsible for, and provide oversight and review for, the following shared services performed by D.R. Horton:

•finance and treasury;

•risk and insurance;

•information technology;

•internal audit;

•investor relations; and

•human resources, payroll and employee benefits.

We have a Master Supply Agreement with D.R. Horton which establishes our business relationship with D.R. Horton as both companies identify residential real estate opportunities. The agreement provides D.R. Horton the right of first offer to purchase, at market prices and terms offered by Forestar, up to 100% of the lots from D.R. Horton sourced projects, up to 50% of the lots in the first phase of a Forestar sourced project and up to 50% of the lots in any subsequent phase in which D.R. Horton purchases at least 25% of the lots in the previous phase. D.R. Horton has no such rights on third-party sourced development opportunities. The Master Supply Agreement continues until the earlier of (i) the date at which D.R. Horton owns less than 15% of our voting shares or (ii) June 29, 2037; however, we may terminate the agreement at any time when D.R. Horton owns less than 25% of our voting shares.

We have a Stockholder's Agreement with D.R. Horton which defines D.R. Horton’s right to nominate members to our Board, requires D.R. Horton’s consent for certain transactions and establishes an investment committee. D.R. Horton has the right to nominate our Board members commensurate with its equity ownership. As long as D.R. Horton owns at least 20% of our voting securities, it retains the right to nominate individuals to our Board based on its equity ownership as well as designate the Executive Chairman.

As long as D.R. Horton owns at least 35% of our voting securities, we must obtain D.R. Horton’s consent to (i) issue any new class of equity or shares of our common stock in excess of certain amounts; (ii) incur, assume, refinance or guarantee debt that would increase our total leverage to greater than 40%; (iii) select, terminate, remove or change compensation arrangements for the Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and other key senior management; and (iv) make an acquisition or investment greater than $20 million. The Stockholder’s Agreement also establishes an investment committee to approve new investments up to $20 million.

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Land/Lot Acquisition and Inventory Management

We acquire land for use in our development operations after we have completed due diligence and obtained the development rights (known as entitlements). Before we acquire lots or tracts of land, we complete a feasibility study, which includes soil tests, independent environmental studies, other engineering work and financial analysis. We also evaluate the status of necessary zoning and other governmental entitlements required to develop the property for home construction. Although we purchase and develop land primarily to sell finished lots to homebuilders, we may sell land where we have excess land positions or for other strategic reasons.

We also enter into land purchase contracts, whereby we obtain the right, but generally not the obligation, to buy land at predetermined prices on a defined schedule commensurate with planned development. These contracts generally are non-recourse, which limits our financial exposure to our earnest money deposited into escrow under the terms of the contract and any pre-acquisition due diligence costs we incur. This enables us to control land with limited capital investment.

We attempt to mitigate our exposure to real estate inventory risks by:

•managing our supply of land and lots owned and controlled through purchase contracts in each market based on anticipated future demand;

•monitoring local market and demographic trends that affect housing demand;

•limiting the size of our land development projects and focusing on short duration projects;

•acquiring land entitled for single-family residential housing and managing our development in phases;

•focusing on developing lots for entry-level housing, the segment where housing demand has been the highest;

•developing the majority of our lots for a known buyer; and

•geographically diversifying our land portfolio.

Land Development

Substantially all of our land development work is performed by subcontractors. Subcontractors typically are selected after a competitive bidding process pursuant to a contract that obligates the subcontractor to complete the scope of work at an agreed-upon price and within a specified time frame. We monitor land development activities, participate in major decisions, coordinate the activities of subcontractors and suppliers, review the work of subcontractors for quality and cost controls and monitor compliance with building codes or other regulations.

We typically do not maintain inventories of land development materials except for work-in-progress materials for active development projects. Generally, the materials used in our operations have been readily available from numerous sources. In fiscal 2022, we experienced supply chain constraints including increases in the prices of materials, shortages of skilled labor and delays in municipal approvals and inspections, which caused delays in developing and the realization of revenues and increases in cost of revenues. In fiscal 2023, these supply chain constraints have eased in the majority of our markets.

The cost and availability of certain materials, especially steel, transformers, concrete, and petroleum-based materials, is influenced by changes in local and global commodity prices and capacity as well as government regulation, such as government-imposed tariffs or trade restrictions on supplies such as steel. The ability to consistently source qualified labor at reasonable prices remains challenging as labor supply growth has not kept pace with construction demand.

We are subject to governmental regulations that affect our land development operations. In fiscal 2022 and 2023, municipalities and other government agencies were frequently delayed in granting the proper approvals to us, which delayed our development activities in certain markets.

In select situations, we contract with D.R. Horton for land development services, generally in geographic markets where we do not have established development teams and capabilities.

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Lot/Land Banking

In addition to our residential lot development activities, we also make strategic short-term investments in finished lots (lot banking) and undeveloped land (land banking) with the intent to sell these assets within a short time period, primarily to D.R. Horton, utilizing available capital prior to its deployment into longer term lot development projects. We manage our level of lot/land banking relative to short-term liquidity and expected future cash requirements for lot development projects.

Cost Controls

We control development costs by designing our communities efficiently and by obtaining competitive bids for materials and labor. We monitor our land development expenditures versus budgets for each project, and we review our inventory levels, margins, expenses, profitability and returns for each project compared to its business plan and our performance expectations.

We control overhead costs by centralizing certain accounting and administrative functions, monitoring staffing and compensation levels and applying technology to business processes to improve productivity where practical. We review other general and administrative costs to identify efficiencies and savings opportunities in our operating divisions and our regional and corporate offices.

Competition

We face significant competition for the acquisition, development and sale of real estate in our markets. Our major competitors include numerous national, regional and local developers, including homebuilders. In addition, we compete with other development projects offering similar amenities, products and/or locations. Competition also exists for investment opportunities, financing, available land, raw materials and labor. Some of our real estate competitors are well established and financially strong, may have greater financial, marketing and other resources than we do, or may be larger than us and/or have lower cost of capital and operating costs than we have and expect to have. The presence of competition may increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell. These competitive market pressures can sometimes make it difficult to acquire, develop or sell land and lots at prices that meet our return criteria.

The land and lot acquisition and development business is highly fragmented, and we are unaware of any meaningful concentration of national market share by any one competitor. Enterprises of varying sizes, from individuals or small companies to large corporations, actively engage in the real estate development business. Many competitors are local, privately-owned companies. We have a few regional and national land developer competitors in addition to national homebuilders that may develop lots on which they construct and sell homes. During periods when access to capital is restricted, participants in a weaker financial condition tend to be less active.

Sales Contracts and Backlog

Our lot sales contracts require an earnest money deposit, which can vary in amount across our markets and communities. We have the right to either retain or refund customer deposits on canceled lot purchase contracts, depending upon the applicable provisions of the contract or other circumstances. The length of time between the signing of a lot sales contract and delivery of the lot to the customer (closing) is generally from three to twelve months. At September 30, 2023, our lots owned included approximately 15,000 lots (29%) that were under contract to be sold, of which approximately 14,400 lots are under contract to D.R. Horton.

Human Capital Resources

People and Culture

We have increased our number of employees from 291 at September 30, 2022 to 303 at September 30, 2023 to support the growth of our residential lot development business across a geographically diversified platform. At September 30, 2023, 233 of our employees worked in our regional and divisional offices and 70 worked at our corporate office. In fiscal 2023, our total cost for employee compensation and benefits was $59.5 million. In addition to our employees, we also have a Shared Services Agreement with D.R. Horton whereby D.R. Horton employees provide us with certain administrative, compliance, operational and procurement services.

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We believe the people who work for our company are our most important resources and are critical to our continued success. We focus significant attention toward attracting and retaining talented and experienced individuals to manage and support our operations. Our people are expected to exhibit and promote honest, ethical and respectful conduct in the workplace. All of our employees must certify to their understanding of and adhere to a code of conduct that sets standards for appropriate behavior and includes required internal training on preventing, identifying, reporting and stopping any type of discrimination.

Recruitment, Development and Retention

We are committed to hiring, developing and supporting an energetic, diverse workforce and maintaining a productive, positive and inclusive workplace. We believe diversity in the workplace produces unique perspectives and fresh ideas and helps us better serve our customers. We have an active recruiting team that partners with college campuses and external organizations to identify strong new hires and experienced professionals. Our paid internship program provides college students and recent graduates an opportunity to work alongside some of the most experienced professionals in the land development industry. Management is committed to supporting the development of our employees in many ways including onboarding programs, training and providing employees exposure to senior management. Our management team also supports a culture of developing future leaders from our existing workforce, enabling us to promote from within for many leadership positions. We believe this provides long-term focus and continuity to our operations while also providing opportunities for the growth and advancement of our employees. During fiscal 2023, 20 employees were placed into new leadership positions in our regional and divisional offices, and of those, 85% were promoted from within the organization.

Compensation and Benefits

We believe our compensation package and benefits are competitive with others in our industry. In addition to base pay, eligible employees may participate in our incentive bonus and stock compensation plans, which align their compensation to the interests of our shareholders. We also offer our employees a broad range of benefits, including paid vacation, holidays, sick time and parental leave; medical, dental and vision healthcare insurance and life insurance and disability coverage. We are committed to supporting our employees in their health, wellness and financial planning goals. Additional benefits offered include a 401(k) savings plan, employee stock purchase plan and access to professional resources to support employees with their mental and physical health, financial planning, identify theft protection and legal needs. We are committed to supporting our employees in their health, wellness and financial planning goals. We host events and challenges, both virtually and in person, to encourage our employees to stay active and healthy. Additional information about our employee benefit plans is included in Note 11 to the accompanying financial statements.

Workplace Safety and Wellness

The safety and well-being of our employees are our first priority. We take workplace safety seriously at our construction sites and in our offices. Our organization strives for a zero-incident safety culture and full compliance with safety regulations. We provide certification training to our field personnel through an Occupational Safety and Health Administration authorized third-party vendor; we provide our teams with an abundance of safety resources, including safety checklists, policies, procedures, and best practices; and we communicate with all of our employees through a monthly safety newsletter to inform and reinforce our commitment to and concern for their well-being. We also require certain personal protective equipment, such as hard hats, high visibility safety wear and hearing and eye protection to be worn in certain circumstances at our active development sites. Additionally, because substantially all of our land development work is performed by subcontractors, we require that our subcontractors maintain safety programs.

Governmental Regulation and Environmental Matters

Our operations are subject to extensive and complex regulations. We, and the subcontractors we use, must comply with many federal, state and local laws and regulations. These include zoning, permitting, density and development requirements, and building, environmental, advertising, labor and real estate sales rules and regulations. These regulations and requirements substantially affect all aspects of our land development and sales processes in varying degrees across our markets. Our properties are subject to inspection and approval by local authorities where required and may be subject to various assessments for schools, parks, streets, utilities and other public improvements. We may experience delays in receiving the proper approvals from local authorities that could delay our anticipated development activities in certain projects.

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Our land development activities are also subject to an extensive array of local, state and federal statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations concerning protecting health, safety and the environment. The particular compliance requirements for each site vary greatly according to location, environmental condition and the present and former uses of the site and adjoining properties. We believe that we are in compliance in all material respects with existing environmental regulations applicable to our business. Additionally, our compliance with such regulations has not had, nor is it expected to have, a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. However, changes in regulations could increase our costs to comply with such regulations, as discussed in “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”

Available Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 2221 E. Lamar Blvd., Suite 790, Arlington, Texas 76006. Our telephone number is (817) 769-1860.

On the Investor Relations section of our website, www.forestar.com, you may obtain additional information about us, including:

•our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and other documents as soon as reasonably practicable after we file them with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC");

•copies of certain agreements with D.R. Horton, including the Stockholder’s Agreement and Master Supply Agreement;

•beneficial ownership reports filed by officers, directors, and principal security holders under Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (or the “Exchange Act”); and

•corporate governance information that includes our:

–corporate governance guidelines,

–audit committee charter,

–compensation committee charter,

–nominating and governance committee charter,

–standards of business conduct and ethics,

–environmental policy,

–human rights policy,

–code of ethics for senior financial officers, and

–information on how to communicate directly with our Board of Directors.

We will also provide printed copies of any of these documents to any stockholder free of charge upon request. The SEC also maintains a website (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information that is filed electronically with the SEC.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Discussion of our business and operations included in this annual report on Form 10-K should be read together with the risk factors set forth below. They describe various risks and uncertainties we are or may become subject to, many of which are difficult to predict or beyond our control. Although the risks are organized and described separately, many of the risks are interrelated. These risks and uncertainties, together with other factors described elsewhere in this report, have the potential to affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, strategies or prospects in a material and adverse manner.

Risks Related to our Concentrated Ownership

So long as D.R. Horton controls us, our other stockholders will have limited ability to influence matters requiring stockholder approval, and D.R. Horton's interest may conflict with the interests of other current or potential holders of our securities.

D.R. Horton beneficially owns approximately 63% of our common stock. As a result, until such time as D.R. Horton and its controlled affiliates hold shares representing less than a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by our stockholders at a stockholder meeting, D.R. Horton generally has the ability to control the outcome of any matter submitted for the vote of our stockholders, except in certain circumstances set forth in our certificate of incorporation or bylaws. In addition, under the terms of our certificate of incorporation and the Stockholder's Agreement with D.R. Horton, so long as D.R. Horton or its affiliates own 35% or more of our voting securities, we may not take certain actions without D.R. Horton's approval, including certain actions with respect to equity issuances, indebtedness, acquisitions, fundamental changes in our business and executive hiring, termination and compensation.

For so long as D.R. Horton and its controlled affiliates hold shares of our common stock representing at least 20% of the votes entitled to be cast by our stockholders at a stockholder meeting, D.R. Horton is able to designate a certain number of the members of our Board of Directors. Currently, D.R. Horton has the right to designate four out of five members of our Board, subject to a requirement that we and D.R. Horton use reasonable best efforts to cause at least three directors to qualify as “independent directors,” as such term is defined in the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") listing rules, and applicable law. The directors designated by D.R. Horton have the authority to make decisions affecting our capital structure, including the issuance of additional capital stock or options, the incurrence of additional indebtedness, the implementation of stock repurchase programs and the declaration of dividends. The interests of D.R. Horton may be materially different than the interests of our other stakeholders.

The interests of D.R. Horton may not coincide with the interests of our current or potential stockholders. D.R. Horton's ability, subject to the limitations in the Stockholder's Agreement and our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, to control matters submitted to our stockholders for approval limits the ability of other stockholders to influence corporate matters, which may cause us to take actions that our other stockholders do not view as beneficial to them. In such circumstances, the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected, and our ability to access the capital markets may also be adversely affected. In addition, the existence of a controlling stockholder may have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, or may discourage a third party from seeking to acquire us. A third party would be required to negotiate any such transaction with D.R. Horton, and the interests of D.R. Horton with respect to such transaction may be different from the interests of our other stockholders.

Subject to limitations in the Stockholder's Agreement and our certificate of incorporation that limit D.R. Horton's ability to take advantage of certain corporate opportunities that are presented directly to our officers or directors in their capacity as such, D.R. Horton is not restricted from competing with us or otherwise taking for itself or its other affiliates certain corporate opportunities that may be attractive to us.

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Any inability to resolve favorably any disputes that may arise between us and D.R. Horton may result in a significant reduction of our revenues and earnings.

Disputes may arise between D.R. Horton and us in a number of areas, including:

•business combinations involving us;

•sales or dispositions by D.R. Horton of all or any portion of its ownership interest in us;

•performance under the Master Supply Agreement;

•arrangements with third parties that are exclusionary to D.R. Horton or us; and

•business opportunities that may be attractive to both D.R. Horton and us.

We may not be able to resolve any potential conflicts, and even if we do, the resolution may be less favorable than if we were dealing with an unaffiliated party.

New agreements may be entered into between D.R. Horton and us, and agreements we enter into with D.R. Horton may be amended upon agreement between the parties. Because we are controlled by D.R. Horton, we may not have the leverage to negotiate these agreements, or amendments thereto if required, on terms as favorable to us as those that we would negotiate with an unaffiliated third party.

D.R. Horton's ability to control our Board may make it difficult for us to recruit independent directors.

So long as D.R. Horton and its controlled affiliates hold shares of our common stock representing at least 20% of the votes entitled to be cast by our stockholders at a stockholders' meeting, D.R. Horton is able to designate a certain number of the members of our Board. Our Nominating and Governance Committee has the right to designate the remaining number of individuals to the Board, and in any event not less than one. Currently, D.R. Horton has the right to designate four out of five members of our Board. Further, the interests of D.R. Horton and our other stockholders may diverge. Under these circumstances, persons who might otherwise accept an invitation to join our Board may decline.

We qualify as a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE rules and, as a result, may elect to rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to stockholders of companies that are not controlled companies.

So long as D.R. Horton owns more than 50% of the total voting power of our common stock, we qualify as a "controlled company" under the NYSE corporate governance standards. As a controlled company, we may under the NYSE rules elect to be exempt from obligations to comply with certain NYSE corporate governance requirements, including the requirements:

•that a majority of our Board consist of independent directors;

•that we have a nominating and governance committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee's purpose and responsibilities;

•that we have a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee's purpose and responsibilities; and

•that an annual performance evaluation of the nominating and governance committee and compensation committee be performed.

We have not elected to utilize the “controlled company” exemptions at this time. However, if we elect to use the controlled company exemptions, our stockholders will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.

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We may not realize potential benefits of the strategic relationship with D.R. Horton, including the transactions contemplated by the Master Supply Agreement with D.R. Horton.

The Master Supply Agreement establishes a strategic relationship between us and D.R. Horton for the supply of developed lots. Under the Master Supply Agreement, we will, and D.R. Horton may, present lot development opportunities to each other, subject to certain exceptions. The parties may collaborate with respect to such opportunities and, if they elect to develop such opportunities, D.R. Horton has a right of first offer or right to purchase some or all of the lots developed by us, as set forth in the Master Supply Agreement, on market terms offered by Forestar. There are numerous uncertainties associated with our relationship with D.R. Horton, including the risk that the parties will be unable to negotiate mutually acceptable terms for lot development opportunities and the fact that D.R. Horton is not obligated to present its lot development opportunities to us. As a result, we may not realize potential growth or other benefits from the strategic relationship with D.R. Horton, which may affect our financial condition or results of operations.

D.R. Horton's control of us or the strategic relationship between D.R. Horton and us may negatively affect our business relationships with other builder customers.

So long as D.R. Horton controls us or the strategic relationship between D.R. Horton and us remains in place, our business relationships with other builder customers may be negatively affected, including the risk that such other builder customers may believe that we will favor D.R. Horton over our other customers. In addition, we have in the past relied on builder referrals as a source for land development opportunities, and there is a risk that builders may refer such opportunities to land developers other than us as a result of our close alignment with D.R. Horton.

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Risks Related to Our Business Operations

The homebuilding and lot development industries are cyclical and significantly affected by changes in economic, real estate or other conditions that could adversely affect our business and financial results.

The homebuilding and lot development industries are cyclical and are significantly affected by changes in general and local economic and real estate conditions, such as:

•employment levels;

•consumer confidence and spending;

•demand for residential lots;

•availability of financing for homebuyers;

•availability of financing for companies that purchase our residential lots;

•interest rates;

•inflation; and

•demographic trends.

Adverse changes in general and local economic conditions or deterioration in the broader economy may negatively impact our business and financial results and increase the risk of asset impairments and write-offs. Changes in economic conditions may affect some of our regions or markets more than others. If adverse conditions affect our larger markets, they could have a proportionately greater impact on us than on some other real estate development companies.

The federal government’s fiscal policies and the Federal Reserve's monetary policies may negatively impact the financial markets and consumer confidence and could hurt the U.S. economy and the real estate market, and in turn, could adversely affect the operating results of our business. In response to increased inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates significantly, which has resulted in higher mortgage interest rates. Prolonged periods of elevated mortgage interest rates or further increases in mortgage interest rates could have an adverse impact on our business and financial results.

Deployments of U.S. military personnel to foreign regions, terrorist attacks, other acts of violence or threats to national security and any corresponding response by the United States or others, domestic or international instability or social or political unrest may cause an economic slowdown in the markets where we operate, which could adversely affect our business.

If we experience any of the foregoing, homebuilders may be less willing or able to buy our residential lots. Additionally, cancellations of lot sales contracts may increase if homebuilders do not honor their contracts due to any of the factors discussed above. Our pricing and product strategies may also be limited by market conditions. We may be unable to change the pricing or mix of our product offerings, reduce the costs of the residential lots we develop, or satisfactorily address changing market conditions in other ways without adversely affecting our profits and returns.

Our business and financial results could be adversely affected by significant inflation, higher interest rates or deflation.

During the past two years, the economy has experienced significant inflationary pressures. Inflation can adversely affect us by increasing costs of land, materials, labor and our cost of capital. In addition, significant inflation is often accompanied by higher interest rates, which have a negative impact on housing affordability. In an effort to lower the current rate of inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates significantly, which has resulted in higher mortgage rates. The increase in mortgage rates has reduced the affordability of our lots and has required us to use pricing adjustments and incentives to adapt to current market conditions. If inflation and mortgage interest rates remain high or continue to increase, lot affordability may be further impacted, which could reduce our profit margins and have an adverse impact on our business and financial results.

Alternatively, a significant period of deflation could cause a decrease in overall spending and borrowing levels. This could lead to deterioration in economic conditions, including an increase in the rate of unemployment. Deflation could also cause the value of our real estate to decline. These, or other factors related to deflation, could have a negative impact on our business and financial results.

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Supply shortages and other risks related to acquiring land, materials and skilled labor and obtaining regulatory approval could increase our costs and delay lot deliveries.

The residential lot development industry may experience significant difficulties that can affect the cost or timing of lot development, including:

•difficulty in acquiring land suitable for residential development at affordable prices in locations that are attractive to homebuilders;

•delays in receiving the necessary approvals from municipalities or other government agencies;

•shortages of qualified subcontractors;

•reliance on local subcontractors, manufacturers and distributors who may be inadequately capitalized;

•shortages of construction materials; and

•significant increases in the cost of materials and other inputs, including petroleum-based products.

During the last few years, we experienced multiple disruptions in our supply chain, which resulted in shortages of certain building materials and tightness in the labor market. This caused our construction cycle to lengthen and costs of building materials to increase. Although our construction cycle times have decreased more recently, if shortages and cost increases in building materials and tightness in the labor market increase, our construction cycle time and profit margins could be adversely impacted.

Public health issues such as a major epidemic or pandemic could adversely affect our business and financial results.

The U.S. and other countries have experienced, and may experience in the future, outbreaks of contagious diseases that affect public health and public perception of health risk. In the event of a resurgence of COVID-19, or a widespread, prolonged actual or perceived outbreak of any contagious disease, our operations could be negatively impacted. Such events have had, and could in the future have, an effect on our operations, including a reduction in homebuilder traffic, a disruption in our supply chain, tightness in the labor market or other factors, all of which could reduce demand for our lots. These or other repercussions of a public health crisis that affect the global economy could have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition.

Our business and financial results could be adversely affected by weather conditions and natural disasters.

Physical risks, including weather conditions and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic activity, droughts, floods, hailstorms, heavy or prolonged precipitation, wildfires and others, can harm our business. Additionally, the physical impacts of climate change may cause these occurrences to increase in frequency, severity and duration. Any such events can temporarily delay our development work and lot sales, unfavorably affect the cost or availability of materials or labor, damage residential lots under construction, lead to changing customer preferences and/or negatively impact demand for residential lots in affected areas. We have experienced temporary delays in production and short-term impacts on our lot sales from weather events in recent years. However, there has been no material impact on our business from these events or material operational challenges resulting from these events, but they could adversely affect our business in the future. The climates and geology of many of the states in which we operate, including California, Florida, Texas and other coastal areas where we have some of our larger operations and which have experienced recent natural disasters, present increased risks of adverse weather or natural disasters.

A health and safety incident relating to our operations could be costly in terms of potential liability and reputational damage.

Land development sites are inherently dangerous, and operating in this industry poses certain inherent health and safety risks. Due to health and safety regulatory requirements and the number of residential lots we develop, health and safety performance is critical to the success of our business. Any failure in health and safety performance may result in penalties for non-compliance with relevant regulatory requirements, and a failure that results in a major or significant health and safety incident is likely to be costly and could expose us to liability that could be costly. Such an incident could generate significant negative publicity and have a corresponding impact on our reputation, our relationships with relevant regulatory agencies or governmental authorities, and our ability to attract customers and employees, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our financial results and liquidity.

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From time to time, we obtain performance bonds, the unavailability of which could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows.

From time to time, we provide surety bonds to secure our performance or obligations under construction contracts, development agreements and other arrangements. At September 30, 2023, we had $632.3 million of outstanding surety bonds. Our ability to obtain surety bonds primarily depends upon our credit rating, financial condition, past performance and other factors, including the capacity of the surety market and the underwriting practices of surety bond issuers. The ability to obtain surety bonds also can be impacted by the willingness of insurance companies to issue performance bonds for construction and development activities. If we are unable to obtain surety bonds when required, our results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.

Information technology failures, data security breaches and the failure to satisfy privacy and data protection laws and regulations could harm our business.

We use information technology and other computer resources to carry out important operational and marketing activities and to maintain our business records. These information technology systems are dependent upon global communications providers, web browsers, third-party software and data storage providers and other aspects of the Internet infrastructure that have experienced security breaches, cyber-attacks, ransomware attacks, significant systems failures and service outages in the past. Additionally, phishing attacks, whereby perpetrators attempt to fraudulently induce employees, customers, vendors or other users of a company’s systems to disclose sensitive information to gain access to its data, have become more prevalent in recent years. The use of remote work environments and virtual platforms may increase our risk of cyber-attack or data security breaches. Further, geopolitical tensions or conflicts may create a heightened risk of cyber-attacks or other data security breaches. Our normal business activities involve collecting and storing information specific to our customers, employees, vendors and suppliers and maintaining operational and financial information related to our business, both in an office setting and remote locations as needed. A material breach in the security of our information technology systems or other data security controls could include the theft or release of this information. The unintended or unauthorized disclosure of personal identifying and confidential information as a result of a security breach by any means could lead to litigation or other proceedings against us by the affected individuals or business partners, or by regulators. The outcome of such proceedings, which could include penalties or fines, could have a significant negative impact on our business.

We may also be required to incur significant costs to protect against damages caused by information technology failures, security breaches, and the failure to satisfy privacy and data protection laws and regulations in the future as legal requirements continue to increase. The European Union and other international regulators, as well as state governments, have enacted or enhanced data privacy regulations, such as the California Privacy Rights Act, and other governments are considering establishing similar or stronger protections. These regulations impose certain obligations for handling specified personal information in our systems, including notifying individuals regarding information we have collected from them. We have incurred costs in an effort to comply with these requirements, but our costs may increase significantly if new requirements are enacted and based on how individuals exercise their rights. Any noncompliance could result in substantial penalties, reputational damage or litigation.

We routinely utilize information technology security experts to assist us in our evaluations of the effectiveness of the security of our information technology systems, and we regularly enhance our security measures, which include multiple redundant safeguards, to protect our systems and data. We use various encryption, tokenization and authentication technologies to mitigate cybersecurity risks and have increased our monitoring capabilities to enhance early detection and rapid response to potential cyber threats. However, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade systems change frequently and increasingly leverage sophisticated technologies such as artificial intelligence, they often are not recognized until launched against a target. As such, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques, to implement adequate preventative measures or to identify and investigate cybersecurity incidents.

Although past cybersecurity incidents have not had a material effect on our business or operations to date, in the future, a data security breach, a significant and extended disruption in the functioning of our information technology systems or a breach of any of our data security controls could disrupt our business operations, damage our reputation and cause us to lose customers. We cannot provide assurances that a security breach, cyber-attack, data theft or other significant systems or security failures will not occur in the future, and such occurrences could have a material and adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.

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Governmental regulations and environmental matters could increase the cost and limit the availability of property suitable for residential lot development and could adversely affect our business and financial results.

We are subject to extensive and complex regulations that affect land acquisition, development and home construction, including zoning, density restrictions and building standards. These regulations often provide broad discretion to the administering governmental authorities as to the conditions we must meet prior to acquisition or development being approved, if approved at all. We are subject to determinations by these authorities as to the adequacy of water or sewage facilities, roads or other local services. New housing developments may also be subject to various assessments for schools, parks, streets and other public improvements. In addition, government authorities in many markets have implemented no growth or growth control initiatives. Any of these may limit, delay or increase the costs of acquisition of land for residential use and development or home construction.

We are also subject to a significant number and variety of local, state and federal laws and regulations concerning protection of health, safety, labor standards and the environment. The impact of environmental laws varies depending upon the prior uses of the building site or adjoining properties and may be greater in areas with less supply where undeveloped land or desirable alternatives are less available. These matters may result in delays, may cause us to incur substantial compliance, remediation, mitigation and other costs, and can prohibit or severely restrict land acquisition and development activity in environmentally sensitive regions or areas. Government agencies also routinely initiate audits, reviews or investigations of our business practices to ensure compliance with these laws and regulations, which can cause us to incur costs or create other disruptions in our business that can be significant.

In recent years, advocacy groups, government agencies and the general public have expressed growing concerns regarding the effects of climate change on the environment. Transition risks, such as government restrictions, standards or regulations intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and potential climate change impacts, are emerging and may increase in the future in the form of restrictions or additional requirements on land development in certain areas. Such restrictions and requirements could increase our operating and compliance costs or require additional technology and capital investment, which could adversely affect our results of operations. This is a particular concern in the western United States, where some of the most extensive and stringent environmental laws and residential building construction standards in the country have been enacted, and where we have business operations. We believe we are in compliance in all material respects with existing climate-related government restrictions, standards and regulations applicable to our business, and such compliance has not had a material impact on our business. However, given the rapidly changing nature of environmental laws and matters that may arise that are not currently known, we cannot predict our future exposure concerning such matters, and our future costs to achieve compliance or remedy potential violations could be significant.

Additionally, actual or perceived environmental, social, governance ("ESG") and other sustainability matters and our response to these matters could harm our business. Increasing governmental and societal attention to ESG matters, including expanding mandatory and voluntary reporting, diligence, and disclosure on topics such as climate change, human capital, labor, cybersecurity and risk oversight, could expand the nature, scope, and complexity of matters that we are required to control, assess and report. These factors may alter the environment in which we do business and may increase the ongoing costs of compliance, and adversely impact our results of operations and cash flows. If we are unable to adequately address such ESG matters or fail to comply with all laws, regulations, policies and related interpretations, it could negatively impact our reputation and our business results.

The subcontractors we rely on to perform the actual development of our residential lots are also subject to a significant number of local, state and federal laws and regulations, including laws involving matters that are not within our control. If the subcontractors who develop our residential lots fail to comply with all applicable laws, we can suffer reputational damage and may be exposed to possible liability.

We are also subject to an extensive number of laws and regulations because our common stock is publicly traded in the capital markets. These regulations govern our communications with our shareholders and the capital markets, our financial statement disclosures and our legal processes, and they also impact the work required to be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm and our legal counsel. Changes in these laws and regulations, including the subsequent implementation of rules by the administering government authorities, may require us to incur additional compliance costs, and such costs may be significant.

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There can be no assurance that our current business strategy will be successful.

Our business strategy is focused on expanding our unique residential lot development business across a geographically diversified national platform while consolidating market share in the fragmented U.S. lot development industry, primarily through our strategic relationship with D.R. Horton. There can be no assurance that our unique model will continue to succeed as intended or that we will be able to continue to execute it effectively because of the risks described elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section, or other unforeseen issues or problems that arise. If we are not successful in achieving our objectives, our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition may be negatively affected.

We may have continuing liabilities relating to assets that have been sold, which could adversely impact our results of operations.

In the course of selling assets we are typically required to make contractual representations and warranties and to provide contractual indemnities to the buyers. These contractual obligations typically survive the closing of the transactions for some period of time. If a buyer is successful in sustaining a claim against us we may incur additional expenses pertaining to an asset we no longer own, and we may also be obligated to defend and/or indemnify the buyer from certain third-party claims. Such obligations could be material and they could adversely impact our results of operations.

Our real estate development operations span several markets and as a result, our financial results may be significantly influenced by the local economies of those markets.

The local economic growth and strength of the markets in which our real estate development activity is located are important factors in sustaining demand for our land and lots. Any adverse impact on the economic growth and health, or infrastructure development, of a local economy in which we develop real estate could materially adversely affect our business, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.

Our real estate development operations are highly dependent upon national, regional and local homebuilders.

We are highly dependent upon our relationships with national, regional, and local homebuilders to purchase lots in our residential developments. If homebuilders do not view our developments as desirable locations for homebuilding operations, or if homebuilders are limited in their ability to conduct operations due to economic conditions, our business, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.

In addition, we enter into contracts to sell lots to homebuilders. A homebuilder could decide to delay purchases of lots in one or more of our developments, subject to loss of earnest money, due to adverse real estate conditions wholly unrelated to our areas of operations, such as corporate decisions regarding allocation of limited capital or human resources. As a result, we may sell fewer lots and may have lower sales revenues, which could have an adverse effect on our business, liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.

Delays or failures by governmental authorities to take expected actions could reduce our returns or cause us to incur losses on certain real estate development projects.

For certain projects, we rely on governmental districts to issue bonds to reimburse us for qualified expenses, such as road and utility infrastructure costs. Bonds are often supported by assessments of district tax revenues, usually from ad valorem taxes. Slowing new home sales, decreasing real estate values or difficult credit markets for bond sales can reduce or delay district bond sale revenues and tax or assessment receipts, causing such districts to delay reimbursement of our qualified expenses. Failure to receive reimbursement for qualified expenses could adversely affect our cash flows and reduce our returns or cause us to incur losses on certain real estate development projects.

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Failure to succeed in new markets may limit our growth.

We may from time to time commence development activity or make acquisitions outside of our existing market areas if appropriate opportunities arise. Our historical experience in existing markets does not ensure that we will be able to operate successfully in new markets. We may be exposed to a variety of risks if we choose to enter new markets, including, among others:

•an inability to accurately evaluate local housing market conditions and local economies;

•an inability to obtain land for development or to identify appropriate acquisition opportunities;

•an inability to hire and retain key personnel;

•an inability to successfully integrate operations; and

•lack of familiarity with local governmental and permitting procedures.

We plan to raise additional capital in the future, and such capital may not be available when needed or at all.

We have a $410 million senior unsecured revolving credit facility with an uncommitted accordion feature that could increase the size of the facility to $600 million, subject to certain conditions and availability of additional bank commitments. The facility also provides for the issuance of letters of credit with a sublimit equal to the greater of $100 million and 50% of the total revolving credit commitments. The maturity date of the facility is October 28, 2026. The revolving credit facility is guaranteed by our wholly-owned subsidiaries that are not immaterial subsidiaries or have not been designated as unrestricted subsidiaries. We also have outstanding $400 million principal amount of 3.85% senior notes due 2026 and $300 million principal amount of 5.0% senior notes due 2028, both of which may be redeemed prior to maturity, subject to certain limitations and premiums defined in the indenture agreements. The notes represent senior unsecured obligations that rank equally in right of payment to all existing and future senior unsecured indebtedness and are guaranteed by each of our subsidiaries to the extent such subsidiaries guarantee our revolving credit facility.

We regularly assess our projected capital requirements to fund growth in our business, repay debt obligations and support other general corporate and operational needs, and we regularly evaluate our opportunities to raise additional capital. At September 30, 2023, we had an effective shelf registration statement filed with the SEC in October 2021 registering $750 million of equity securities, of which $300 million was reserved for sales under our at-the-market equity offering program that became effective November 2021. At September 30, 2023, $748.2 million remained available for issuance under the shelf registration statement, of which $298.2 million is reserved for sales under our at-the-market equity offering program. We plan to raise additional capital in the future, in the form of additional debt or equity, to have sufficient capital resources and liquidity to fund our business needs and future growth plans and repay existing indebtedness. Our ability to raise additional capital will depend on, among other things, conditions in the capital markets at that time, which are outside of our control, and our financial condition, operating performance and growth prospects. Economic conditions may increase our cost of funding and limit access to certain customary sources of capital or make such capital only available on unfavorable terms. We may not be able to obtain capital on acceptable terms or at all. Any occurrence that may limit our access to the capital markets, such as a decline in the confidence of debt purchasers or counterparties participating in the capital markets or other disruption in capital markets, may adversely affect our capital costs and our ability to raise capital and, in turn, our liquidity. Further, we may need to raise capital in the future when other real estate-related companies are also seeking to raise capital and would then have to compete with those companies for investors. An inability to raise additional capital on acceptable terms when needed could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The real estate development industry is highly competitive and a number of entities with which we compete are larger and have greater resources or are smaller and have lower cost structures, and competitive conditions may adversely affect our results of operations.

We operate in a highly competitive industry. Competitive conditions in the real estate development industry may result in difficulties acquiring suitable land at acceptable prices, lower sales volumes and prices, increased development or construction costs and delays in construction. We compete with numerous regional and local developers for the acquisition of land suitable for development. We also compete with national, regional and local homebuilders who develop real estate for their own use in homebuilding operations, many of which are larger and have greater resources than we do or are smaller and have lower cost structures than we do. Any improvement in the cost structure or service of our competitors will increase the competition we face. Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be negatively affected by any of these factors.

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Risks Related to Our Indebtedness

We have significant amounts of consolidated debt and may incur additional debt; our debt obligations and our ability to comply with related covenants, restrictions or limitations could adversely affect our financial condition.

As of September 30, 2023, our consolidated debt was $695.0 million, including $400 million principal amount of 3.85% senior notes due 2026 and $300 million principal amount of 5.0% senior notes due 2028. Our revolving credit facility and the indentures governing the senior notes impose restrictions on our and our restricted subsidiaries’ ability to incur secured and unsecured debt, but still permit us and our restricted subsidiaries to incur a substantial amount of future secured and unsecured debt, and do not restrict the incurrence of future secured and unsecured debt by our unrestricted subsidiaries. The indentures governing the senior notes allow us to incur a substantial amount of additional debt.

Possible Consequences

The amount and the maturities of our debt could have important consequences. For example, they could:

•require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to payment of our debt and reduce our ability to use our cash flow for other operating or investing purposes;

•limit our flexibility to adjust to changes in our business or economic conditions; and

•limit our ability to obtain future financing for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, debt service requirements or other requirements.

In addition, our debt and the restrictions imposed by the instruments governing those obligations expose us to additional risks, including:

Dependence on Future Performance

Our ability to meet our debt service and other obligations, including our obligations under the senior notes and the financial covenants under our revolving credit facility, will depend, in part, upon our future financial performance. Our future results are subject to the risks and uncertainties described in this “Risk Factors” section. Our revenues and earnings vary with the level of general economic activity in the markets we serve. Our business is also affected by financial, political, business and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. The factors that affect our ability to generate cash can also affect our ability to raise additional funds for these purposes through the sale of debt or equity, the refinancing of debt or the sale of assets.

Risks of Variable Rate Debt

Changes in prevailing interest rates may affect the cost of our debt service obligations, because borrowings under our revolving credit facility bear interest at floating rates. Borrowings under our revolving credit facility primarily bear interest based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR").

Changes in Debt Ratings

There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain the credit ratings on our senior unsecured debt. Any lowering of our debt ratings could make accessing the capital markets or obtaining additional credit from banks more difficult and/or more expensive.

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Change of Control Purchase Option and Change of Control Default.

Upon the occurrence of a change of control triggering event, as defined in the indentures governing our senior notes, we will be required to offer to repurchase such notes at 101% of their principal amount, together with all accrued and unpaid interest, if any. Moreover, a change of control, as defined in our revolving credit facility, would constitute an event of default under our revolving credit facility that could result in the acceleration of the repayment of any borrowings outstanding under our revolving credit facility, a requirement to cash collateralize all letters of credit outstanding thereunder and the termination of the commitments thereunder. If the maturity of our revolving credit facility and/or other indebtedness together having an aggregate principal amount outstanding of $40 million or more is accelerated, an event of default would result under the indentures governing the senior notes, entitling the trustee for the notes or holders of at least 25% in aggregate principal amount of the then outstanding notes to declare all such notes to be due and payable immediately. If purchase offers were required under the indentures for the senior notes, repayment of the borrowings under our revolving credit facility were required, or if the notes were accelerated, we can give no assurance that we would have sufficient funds to pay the required amounts.

Our debt agreements contain a number of restrictive covenants which will limit our ability to finance future operations, acquisitions or capital needs or engage in other business activities that may be in our interest.

The covenants in the indentures governing our senior notes and the credit agreement governing our revolving credit facility impose, and the terms of any future indebtedness may impose, operating and other restrictions on us and our subsidiaries. Such restrictions affect or will affect, and in many respects limit or prohibit, among other things, our ability and the ability of certain of our subsidiaries to:

•incur additional indebtedness;

•create liens;

•pay dividends and make other distributions in respect of our equity securities;

•redeem or repurchase our equity securities;

•make certain investments or certain other restricted payments;

•sell certain kinds of assets;

•enter into certain types of transactions with affiliates; and

•effect mergers or consolidations.

In addition, our revolving credit facility contains financial covenants requiring the maintenance of a minimum level of tangible net worth, a minimum level of liquidity, a maximum allowable leverage ratio and a borrowing base restriction based on the book value of our real estate assets and unrestricted cash.

The restrictions contained in the indentures and the credit agreements could (1) limit our ability to plan for or react to market or economic conditions or meet capital needs or otherwise restrict our activities or business plans and (2) adversely affect our ability to finance our operations, acquisitions, investments or strategic alliances or other capital needs or to engage in other business activities that would be in our interest.

A breach of any of these covenants could result in a default under all or certain of our debt instruments. If an event of default occurs, such creditors could elect to:

•declare all amounts outstanding, together with accrued and unpaid interest, to be immediately due and payable;

•require us to apply all of our available cash to repay such amounts; or

•prevent us from making debt service payments on certain of our debt instruments.

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General Risk Factors

The market price of and trading volume of our shares of common stock may be volatile.

The market price of our shares of common stock has fluctuated substantially and may continue to fluctuate in response to many factors which are beyond our control, including:

•fluctuations in our operating results, including results that vary from the expectations of management, analysts and investors;

•announcements of strategic developments, acquisitions, financings and other material events by us or our competitors;

•the sale of a substantial number of shares of our common stock held by existing security holders in the public market; and

•general conditions in the real estate industry.

The stock markets in general may experience extreme volatility that may be unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock, make it difficult to predict the market price of our common stock in the future and cause the value of our common stock to decline.

Our business may suffer if we lose key personnel.

We depend to a large extent on the services of certain key management personnel. These individuals have significant experience and skills as well as leadership and management abilities that are vital to our success. Our ability to attract and retain our key personnel may be impacted by matters involving reputation, culture, diversity and inclusion, compensation and benefits and our management of executive succession. We seek to retain our key personnel to have succession and transition plans in place to address the potential loss of key personnel and to manage personnel transitions due to retirements, promotions, transfers and other circumstances. However, if our retention, succession and transition implementation efforts are unsuccessful, the loss of key personnel could adversely affect our business.

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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

Item 2. Properties.

Our principal executive office is leased and is located in Arlington, Texas. We also lease office space in other locations to support our business operations.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

We are involved in various legal proceedings that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of our business. We believe we have established adequate reserves for any probable losses and that the outcome of any of the proceedings should not have a material adverse effect on our financial position or long-term results of operations or cash flows. It is possible, however, that charges related to these matters could be significant to our results of operations or cash flow in any single accounting period.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not Applicable.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Market Information

Our common stock is traded on the NYSE under the trading symbol "FOR." As of November 13, 2023, the closing price of our common stock on the NYSE was $29.53, and there were approximately 928 holders of record.

Dividend Policy

We currently intend to retain any future earnings to support our business. The declaration and payment of any future dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors after taking into account various factors, including without limitation, our financial condition, earnings, capital requirements of our business, the terms of any credit agreements or indentures to which we may be a party at the time, legal requirements, industry practice and other factors that our Board of Directors deems relevant.

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Stock Performance Graph

The following graph illustrates the cumulative total stockholder return of an initial investment of $100 on September 30, 2018 in Forestar common stock for the period from September 30, 2018 through September 30, 2023 compared to the same investment in the Russell 2000 Index and our peer group.

The companies included in our peer group are M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.; Tri Pointe Homes, Inc.; Century Communities, Inc.; Beazer Homes USA, Inc.; Five Point Holdings, LLC (Class A); The Howard Hughes Corporation; The St. Joe Company; Masonite International Corporation; and PGT Innovations, Inc. These companies were selected based on their industries, similar market capitalization and business model.

Pursuant to SEC rules, returns of each of the companies in the peer groups are weighted according to the respective company’s stock market capitalization at the beginning of each period for which a return is indicated. Shareholder returns over the indicated period are based on historical data and should not be considered indicative of future shareholder returns. The graph and related disclosure in no way reflect our forecast of future financial performance.


	September 30,
Stock Performance Data:	2018		2019		2020		2021		2022		2023
Forestar Group Inc.	$	100.00	$	86.23	$	83.49	$	87.88	$	52.78	$	127.08
Russell 2000	100.00		91.11		91.47		135.08		103.33		112.56
Peer Group	100.00		109.77		102.75		135.94		93.22		143.04

This performance graph shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into our SEC filings and should not constitute soliciting material or otherwise be considered filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (Securities Act) or the Exchange Act.

Item 6. [Reserved]

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) is intended to promote an understanding of our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and certain other factors that may affect future results. MD&A is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes to those statements that appear elsewhere in this Form 10-K. This section generally discusses the results of operations for fiscal 2023 compared to 2022. For similar operating and financial data and discussion of our fiscal 2022 results compared to our fiscal 2021 results, refer to Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” under Part II of our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2022, which was filed with the SEC on November 17, 2022.

The following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to any differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the caption "Forward-Looking Statements" and under Item 1A — “Risk Factors."

Our Operations

We are a residential lot development company with operations in 54 markets in 22 states as of September 30, 2023. In October 2017, we became a majority-owned subsidiary of D.R. Horton, Inc. As our controlling shareholder, D.R. Horton has significant influence in guiding our strategic direction and operations.

We manage our operations through our real estate segment, which is our core business and generates substantially all of our revenues. The real estate segment primarily acquires land and installs infrastructure for single-family residential communities and generates revenues from sales of residential single-family finished lots to local, regional and national homebuilders. We have other business activities for which the related assets and operating results are immaterial and therefore are included within our real estate segment.

Throughout the majority of fiscal 2022, demand for our residential lots remained strong. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, we began to see weakening demand that persisted through the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2023 as mortgage interest rates increased substantially and inflationary pressures remained elevated. In the second half of fiscal 2023, demand for finished lots improved as homebuilders increased their pace of new home starts to better match the stronger demand for new homes, particularly at affordable price points. We increase our land and lot sales prices when market conditions permit, and we attempt to offset cost increases in one component with savings in another. However, if market conditions are challenging, we may have to reduce selling prices or may not be able to offset cost increases with higher selling prices. We believe we are well-positioned to operate effectively through changing economic conditions because of our low net leverage and strong liquidity position, our low overhead model and our strategic relationship with D.R. Horton.

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Results of Operations

The following tables and related discussion set forth key operating and financial data as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2023 and 2022.

Operating Results

Components of income before income taxes were as follows:


	Year Ended September 30,
	2023		2022
	(In millions)
Revenues	$	1,436.9	$	1,519.1
Cost of sales	1,132.8		1,195.1
Selling, general and administrative expense	97.7		93.6
Equity in earnings of unconsolidated ventures	—		(1.2)
Gain on sale of assets	(1.6)		(3.2)
Interest and other income	(13.6)		(1.0)
Income before income taxes	$	221.6	$	235.8

Lot Sales

Residential lots sold consisted of:


	Year Ended September 30,
	2023		2022
Development projects	14,040		16,454
Lot banking projects	—		383
	14,040		16,837
Deferred development projects	—		854
	14,040		17,691

Average sales price per lot (a)	$	90,900	$	86,300

_______________

(a) Excludes lots sold from deferred development projects and any impact from change in contract liabilities.

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Revenues

Revenues consisted of:


	Year Ended September 30,
	2023		2022
	(In millions)
Residential lot sales:
Development projects	$	1,275.7	$	1,420.2
Lot banking projects	—		33.5
Decrease in contract liabilities	—		1.8
	1,275.7		1,455.5
Deferred development projects	29.0		26.8
	1,304.7		1,482.3
Tract sales and other	132.2		36.8
Total revenues	$	1,436.9	$	1,519.1

Residential lots sold and residential lot sales revenues in fiscal 2023 decreased compared to the prior year primarily as a result of the moderation in demand for finished lots that persisted throughout the first half of the current fiscal year as homebuilders had reduced their pace of new home starts to better match the moderation of housing demand caused by increases in mortgage interest rates and elevated inflationary pressures.

Residential lot sales to D.R. Horton and customers other than D.R. Horton, before deferred development projects, consisted of:


	Year Ended September 30,
	2023	2022
Residential lots sold to D.R. Horton	12,249	14,895
Residential lots sold to customers other than D.R. Horton	1,791	1,942
	14,040	16,837

Residential lot revenues from lot sales to D.R. Horton and customers other than D.R. Horton, before deferred development projects and changes in contract liabilities, consisted of:


	Year Ended September 30,
	2023		2022
	(In millions)
Revenues from lot sales to D.R. Horton	$	1,094.7	$	1,230.0
Revenues from lot sales to customers other than D.R. Horton	181.0		223.7
	$	1,275.7	$	1,453.7