As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here’s a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q3. Today, we are looking at travel and vacation providers stocks, starting with Marriott (NASDAQ:MAR).
Airlines, hotels, resorts, and cruise line companies often sell experiences rather than tangible products, and in the last decade-plus, consumers have slowly shifted from buying "things" (wasteful) to buying "experiences" (memorable). In addition, the internet has introduced new ways of approaching leisure and lodging such as booking homes and longer-term accommodations. Traditional airlines, hotel, resorts, and cruise line companies must innovate to stay relevant in a market rife with innovation.
The 16 travel and vacation providers stocks we track reported a satisfactory Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.2% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.9% below.
Luckily, travel and vacation providers stocks have performed well with share prices up 15.7% on average since the latest earnings results.
Marriott (NASDAQ:MAR)
Founded by J. Willard Marriott in 1927, Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR) is a global hospitality company with a portfolio of over 7,000 properties and 30 brands, spanning 130+ countries and territories.
Marriott reported revenues of $6.26 billion, up 5.5% year on year. This print was in line with analysts’ expectations, but overall, it was a slower quarter for the company with a miss of analysts’ EPS estimates and EBITDA guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations.
Anthony Capuano, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Marriott had another solid quarter, highlighted by strong net rooms and fee growth, robust development activity and a 3 percent increase in global RevPAR1. Third quarter international RevPAR rose 5.4 percent, led by meaningful gains in APEC and EMEA with resilient domestic and cross-border demand, as well as solid ADR growth. RevPAR in the U.S. & Canada increased more than 2 percent compared to the year-ago quarter, with ADR up 2.3 percent.
Interestingly, the stock is up 11.1% since reporting and currently trades at $289.55.
Read our full report on Marriott here, it’s free.
Best Q3: Target Hospitality (NASDAQ:TH)
Building mini-communities at places such as oil drilling sites, Target Hospitality (NASDAQ:TH) is a provider of specialty workforce lodging accommodations and services.
Target Hospitality reported revenues of $95.19 million, down 34.8% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 8.3%. The business had a very strong quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ EPS and adjusted operating income estimates.
Target Hospitality delivered the biggest analyst estimates beat and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 15.3% since reporting. It currently trades at $7.79.
Is now the time to buy Target Hospitality? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Weakest Q3: Sabre (NASDAQ:SABR)
Originally a division of American Airlines, Sabre (NASDAQ:SABR) is a technology provider for the global travel and tourism industry.
Sabre reported revenues of $764.7 million, up 3.3% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 1.4%. It was a slower quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates and a miss of analysts’ airline bookings estimates.
Sabre delivered the weakest full-year guidance update in the group. As expected, the stock is down 8.7% since the results and currently trades at $3.76.
Read our full analysis of Sabre’s results here.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH)
With amenities like a full go-kart race track built into its ships, Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) is a premier global cruise company.
Norwegian Cruise Line reported revenues of $2.81 billion, up 10.7% year on year. This number beat analysts’ expectations by 1.4%. It was a strong quarter as it also logged a decent beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and EBITDA guidance for next quarter topping analysts’ expectations.
The stock is up 15.8% since reporting and currently trades at $27.63.
Read our full, actionable report on Norwegian Cruise Line here, it’s free.
American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL)
One of the ‘Big Four’ airlines in the US, American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) is a major global air carrier that serves both business and leisure travelers through its domestic and international flights.
American Airlines reported revenues of $13.65 billion, up 1.2% year on year. This result beat analysts’ expectations by 0.5%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter as it also produced a solid beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and full-year EPS guidance exceeding analysts’ expectations.
The stock is up 15.5% since reporting and currently trades at $14.84.
Read our full, actionable report on American Airlines here, it’s free.
Market Update
As a result of the Fed's rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has come down from frothy levels post-pandemic. The general rise in the price of goods and services is trending towards the Fed's 2% goal as of late, which is good news. The higher rates that fought inflation also didn't slow economic activity enough to catalyze a recession. So far, soft landing. This, combined with recent rate cuts (half a percent in September 2024 and a quarter percent in November 2024) have led to strong stock market performance in 2024. The icing on the cake for 2024 returns was Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential Election in early November, sending major indices to all-time highs in the week following the election. Still, debates around the health of the economy and the impact of potential tariffs and corporate tax cuts remain. Said differently, there's still much uncertainty around 2025.
Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 5 Growth Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.
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