The inn is in. Hilton
On the whole, revenue shot up 29% to hit $1.9 billion. Earnings before non-recurring items clocked in at $0.20 per share. If the recent Hilton International acquisition were to be applied to last year's performance, the hotelier would have earned $0.15 a year earlier.
The 33% bottom-line boost amounts to more than the $0.18 per share Wall Street was expecting. However, the real story here is Hilton's 8.9% spike in RevPAR. It is the most critical metric in lodging industry performance, factoring in both occupancy and room rates. An empty hotel is useless no matter how much it charges. A packed one can be problematic if it had to give away rooms to get there.
The key here is that Hilton saw unit-level strength throughout its portfolio of brands.
|
Q1 RevPAR |
|
|---|---|
|
Conrad |
13.2% |
|
Hilton |
10.3% |
|
Doubletree |
8.8% |
|
Homewood Suites |
8.0% |
|
Hilton Garden |
7.9% |
|
Hampton Inn |
7.8% |
|
Embassy Suites |
6.3% |
Yes, Hilton is about more than just the high-end namesake hotels. The company watches over 2,838 properties with 483,090 rooms worldwide. The fact that it is posting healthy results across its business, luxury, and tourist-driven brands should be an encouraging sign for rival chains as well as travel-related industries like airline carriers, rental car agencies, and even travel agencies and online portals.
You probably didn't need this morning's report to confirm that. Hilton's strong showing follows a booming report three months ago for its seasonally potent quarter that ended in December. Its peers have been equally successful. Starwood
The trend bodes well for other chains that are swinging away in the on-deck circle. Wyndham
Checking in, apparently, is something these hoteliers know how to do quite well.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz loves to travel and is a fan of many of the Hilton brands. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.
