What happened
Shares of hotel company Marriott International (MAR 2.76%) were up as much as 5.8% in trading on Tuesday after the company reported fourth-quarter 2021 financial results. Shares closed the day up 5.7%.
So what
Total revenue jumped 105% from a year ago to $4.45 billion, and the company swung from a net loss of $164 million to net income of $468 million, or $1.42 per share. The comparison was against a very weak quarter in 2020 when COVID-19 led to many shutdowns around the world, so they should be taken with a grain of salt.
Image source: Getty Images.
Comparable revenue per available room was up 124.5% worldwide versus a year ago and down 19% from two years ago. The decline was only 15.3% in the U.S. and Canada but 28.2% in international markets.
Now what
There is clearly a recovery taking place in travel around the world, and companies like Marriott are benefiting from the bounce in revenue and the cost reductions put in place during the pandemic. Revenue might not be back to 2019 levels, but net income of $468 million compares to net income of $279 million in the fourth quarter of 2019. Given the operating leverage in the hotel business and the momentum in travel as the pandemic's economic impact slows, I still think there's upside from here.
