Ashford Hospitality Trust Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know (AHT)

Ashford Hospitality Trust Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

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Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Seems like everything is down today, but Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT ) is down more than most -- 22% and counting. Yowza.

So what: The hotel REIT reported second-quarter "earnings" last night. I put that in quotes, of course, because what Ashford actually reported was a $1.4 million loss in "funds from operations." For a more traditional earnings-per-share perspective of how it did, Ashford says it lost $0.49 per share under GAAP -- that's as opposed to the $0.06-per-share profit it earned a year ago.

Now what: This news may not repeat (but it does seem to echo) the bad news out of fellow high-end hotelier FelCor Lodging Trust (NYSE: FCH ) from earlier this week. Revenue per available room was up in both cases, yet neither company managed to turn a profit on the extra business. In that regard, Ashford investors might find FelCor's promise of even more losses later this year worrisome. Analysts are predicting Ashford will turn a profit by year-end. Then again, they used to think the same thing about FelCor.

Want to learn more about Ashford Hospitality Trust? Add it to your Fool Watchlist.

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Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own (or short) shares of either company named above. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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