TheBreeze: In this case (and in my opinion), liquidity is the key. As far as Balance Sheet items go, only the cash and receivables really count as liquid. I don’t know what makes up that $526MM in misc. assets and would need to see the notes to ascertain how liquid those assets really are. I’d also like to see their average DSO (Day’s Sales Outstanding) for receivables; this is usually a good indicator as to how quickly they are turning their receivables.

The inventory and options are fairly illiquid, especially in today’s market.

Homebuilders have notoriously low market caps, so be somewhat judicious when using that as a signpost. It appears, based on your numbers (and I would want to see an Income Statement to really comment), that Beazer has most of their net worth tied up in illiquid assets and their burn rate is excessive when compared to cash on hand. A good look at the liabilities side of the Balance Sheet would be informative as well.

One really severe bump and things could get really dicey.