Hilton shows strong RevPAR, NUG growth in Q4

MCLEAN, Virginia —Hilton reported 6.5% year-over-year revenue growth, systemwide RevPAR growth, a record pipeline and net unit growth of 7.3% as part of its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 earnings.

“We are pleased to report a strong fourth quarter, with both top and bottom line results exceeding our expectations,” said President and CEO Chris Nassetta. “All segments drove RevPAR outperformance, with strong trends in leisure occupancy, as well as continued growth in business transient and group results, and we expect favorable trends to continue into 2025… With a development pipeline of nearly half a million rooms, we are confident that we are well positioned to deliver net unit growth between 6-7% in 2025.”

Systemwide comparable RevPAR increased 3.5% YOY in Q4 with full-year RevPAR increasing 2.7% from 2023. In the fourth quarter, the company opened 171 hotels and 22,600 rooms into its system, with 98,400 rooms added for the full year. Hilton also has 3,578 hotels and 498,600 rooms in its pipeline through the end of 2024, representing growth of 8% from a year ago.

Hilton exceeded its high end of guidance with several of its numbers: diluted EPS was $2.06 for Q4 and $6.14 for 2024; net income was $505 million for Q4 and $1.54 billion for 2024; while adjusted EBITDA was $858 million for Q4 and $3.43 billion for 2024.

The company also repurchased 3.1 million shares of common stock during Q4, bringing total capital return, including dividends, to $781 million for the quarter and $3 billion for 2024.

Through the end of 2024, Hilton had $11.2 billion of debt outstanding, excluding the deduction for deferred financing costs and discounts, with a weighted average interest rate of 4.77%

Hilton’s 2025 guidance increases a systemwide RevPAR increase of 2-3%, while full-year net income is projected to be between $1.83-1.86 billion. Full-year adjusted EBITDA is projected to be between $3.7-3.74 billion. Hilton is projecting net unit growth (NUG) for 2025 to be between 6-7%.

What the analysts said

Analyst Michael Bellisario of R.W. Baird said Hilton beat fourth-quarter earnings based on lower G&A costs and higher owned and leased profits.

“We view Hilton’s 4Q24 earnings and 2025 outlook as plus/minus in line with expectations. Fourth quarter results topped Baird/Street forecasts on better RevPAR growth, but total fees were just shy of our estimate (and further below consensus) due to the timing/amount of termination fees YOY,” he said. “Overall, we see no surprises with Hilton’s earnings or outlook, and the company’s business momentum and overall growth trajectory remain intact, in our opinion.”

Analyst Michael Scholes of Truist Securities said Hilton’s earnings were a beat mainly based on global RevPAR gains and owned/leased RevPAR margins with no major surprises.

“2025 guidance slightly better than consensus expectations,” he said. “We view the guidance as indicative that the [Hilton] algorithmic growth is intact for 2025.”