Beazer Homes USA (BZH: sentiment, chart, options) announced this morning that preliminary net new home orders totaled 551 in its fiscal first quarter, down 56% from the year-earlier period. The builder warned that home closings for the quarter ended Dec. 31 fell 53% to 938 units. The firm is expected to report full quarterly results on Feb. 9.

Technically speaking, the security has had a rough time. The shares have fallen more than 76% during the past 52 weeks and is down more than 10% since the start of 2009.

As a result, it should come has no surprise that sentiment is rather bearish toward the shares. Nearly 33% of the company's total float has been sold short, while all 3 of the analysts still following the shares rate them a "hold."