Skift Take
Most hotel companies have posted a profit at least once during the pandemic, and Hyatt needs to do the same this week to avoid shareholder and analyst scrutiny.
Early Check-In
Editor’s Note: Skift Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill brings readers exclusive reporting and insights into hotel deals and development, and how those trends are making an impact across the travel industry.
Hotel earnings season largely concludes this week with Marriott, Choice Hotels, and Hyatt all reporting.
Marriott and Choice will almost certainly rely on different profit narratives while the pressure is on for Hyatt to finally show a profitable quarter during the pandemic.
Marriott, which has outperformed competitors like Hyatt and Hilton during the pandemic, just needs to show the company is moving beyond leisure travel and showing signs of life in other sectors like business and group. Hilton, which reported its best quarter of the pandemic last week, rallied in recent months thanks to accelerating business travel demand from small and medium-sized businesses.
Choice Hotels is expected to post a strong quarter in light of its greater reliance on leisure travel and essential workers to fill up its hotels. The company’s most direct competitor, Wyndham, reported a $103 million profit last week, and there is general analyst expectation Choice will perform better in light of stronger brands like Comfort and Cambria that garner higher rates and developer interest.
The biggest earnings question is if the third quarter will be when Hyatt finally returns to the black after several devastating quarters during the pandemic. Company leaders are likely to promote their recent deal to acquire Apple Leisure Group and gain stronger footing in Europe as well as the all-inclusive space.
But shareholders also want to see profits accompany growth, and Hyatt is the last major U.S.-based hotel company to not report a p