Marriott International topped fourth-quarter earnings estimates early Tuesday and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts beat estimates Wednesday afternoon as the travel recovery continues into 2023.
Marriott stock and arguably Wyndham Hotels closed Wednesday in buy zones. Choice Hotels International broke out Wednesday on its own results.
Meanwhile, Airbnb flew out of a base Wednesday on strong earnings. TripAdvisor slashed initial gains but finished in buy range.
Domestic travel volume recovered to 96% of its pre-pandemic 2019 levels last year, according to data from the U.S. Travel Association. The industry's national nonprofit group forecasts travel volume to improve to 99% of 2019 levels in 2023, before growing to 104% in 2024. Total U.S. travel spending this year is seen growing 11% to $1.11 trillion.
Marriott International Earnings
Analysts expected Marriott's earnings to slow for the third straight quarter, on a year-over-year basis while sales growth declined for the fourth quarter in a row as the pandemic recovery runs to the end of its course.
Expectations: Analysts predicted adjusted earnings to leap 40.8% to $1.83 per share on 20.77% revenue growth to $5.37 billion.
Results: Marriott earnings leapt 51% to $1.96 per share. Revenue jumped 33% to $5.92 billion.
The company added more than 65,000 rooms globally during 2022 and it currently has more than 496,000 rooms in its pipeline. Q4 revenue per available room (RevPAR) (RevPAR) rose 28.8% vs. a year earlier, driven by a 13% gain average daily rates. RevPAR grew 4.6% vs. prepandemic Q4 2019 levels.
Outlook: Marriott sees Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.82-$1.88, above consensus. For the full year, it forecast adjusted EPS of $7.23-$7.91 per share, with the midpoint slightly above analyst views. That would represent up to 9.3% growth. Marriott projects gross revenue fees between $4.33 billion and $4.56 billion, compared to $4.08 billion in 2022.
Marriott Stock
Marriott International joined the list of stocks with a 95 or better Composite Rating last week. The Composite Rating combines a number of technical indicators into one easy-to-read score. MAR shares are trading in a cup base with a 196 buy point according to MarketSmith.
Marriott stock edged down 0.4% to 180.59 on Wednesday. On Tuesday, shares rose nearly 4% to 181.27 following Marriott's earnings beat, clearing a 177.69 buy point from a cup-with-handle base going back to late April.
MAR stock climbed 1.75% on Monday, rebounding from its short-term 21-day exponential moving average.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
Expectations: Analysts saw adjusted Wyndham earnings sliding 10% to 62 cents per share on a 17% dip in revenue to $324 million. That would be the first drop in Wyndham earnings in six quarters, following three quarters of decelerating gains. Sales were predicted to fall for the third straight quarter.
Results: Wyndham's adjusted earnings rose 4.3% to 72 cents per share while sales fell 14.8% to $334 million.
During the fourth quarter, Wyndham's sales and fee-related revenues rose 12% year-over-year due to increased global revenue per available room (RevPAR) and higher licensing fees. RevPAR grew 15% , driven by a 46% leap for its international rooms. As of Dec. 31, Wyndham has 348.7 million rooms internationally, up 9% from last year, driven by the September acquisition of the Vienna House brand.
Outlook: Wyndham forecasts adjusted earnings between $3.84 and $3.98 for the 2023 fiscal year, compared to $3.96 for 2022. Fee-related and other revenues are seen between $1.375 billion and $1.4 billion. And Wyndham guided adjusted EBITDA to range between $650 million and $660 million. The company expects global revenue per available room to grow 4% to 6%, and the number of rooms to grow between 2% and 4%.
WH Stock
Wyndham stock was not yet active overnight.
Shares rose 2.3% to 80.97 on Wednesday. That pushed WH stock just out of range of a bottoming base with a buy point of 77. But Wyndham stock is just above an 80.01 buy point from a tiny handle on a base going back to late April.
More Travel Earnings
Online lodging services Airbnb and TripAdvisor reported earnings late Tuesday. Airbnb earnings increased fivefold to 48 cents per share while revenue slowed for the fourth quarter in a row, rising 24% to $1.9 billion. The results beat expectations of 24 cents per share on 21% sales growth.
Meanwhile, TripAdvisor adjusted earnings increased to 16 cents per share, from a loss of 1 cent last year, and revenue grew 47% to $354 million. The results easily beat earnings forecasts of 4 cents per share on $344 million in sales.
ABNB stock spiked 13.35% Wednesday following results. On Monday, shares bounced from their 21-day and 200-day lines within a cup-with-handle bottoming base with a 121.50 buy point. Airbnb rose 3.8% to 120.87 on Tuesday.
TRIP stock rose 0.3% Wednesday to 25.20 after hitting 27.30 intraday. TRIP stock is are just above the 24.78 buy point from an oddly shaped double-bottom base.
Choice Hotels beat analyst predictions Wednesday morning as earnings and revenue both rose 27% to $1.26 per share and $362 million, respectively. Wall Street expected earnings of $1.06 per share on $356.8 million in sales. CHH stock rose 3.4% to 130.01 Wednesday, breaking out from a 126.82 buy point for a cup with handle base.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on Twitter @IBD_Harrison
