Hilton beats on EBITDA despite light RevPAR quarter

McLEAN, Virginia – Hilton Worldwide Holdings delivered a 3Q24 earnings beat while RevPAR growth continued to soften to 1.4% (just 1.0% in the U.S) attributed to slower macro trends, weather challenges, and unfavorable calendar shifts.

Earnings were 2% ahead of consensus with Adjusted EBITDA at $904 million ad Adjusted earnings per share of $1.92.

Full-year earnings guidance was unchanged and 4Q24 RevPAR guidance was lowered 100 bps to 1.0% to 2.0%, not surprising considering multiple forecasts for a slower fourth quarter. Full-year RevPAR growth guidance is now 2.0%-2.5%. Adjusted EBITDA ($3.375-$3.405 billion) and Adjusted EPS ($6.93-$7.03) are unchanged.  Net unit growth guidance is unchanged at 7.0%-7.5%.

Hilton added 33,600 net rooms (36,600 total) in 3Q24, up 7.8% year-over-year. It approved 27,500 new rooms for development during the third quarter, bringing the development pipeline to 492,400 (3,525 hotels), which represents growth of 8% year-over-year. Of the rooms in the development pipeline, 235,400 were under construction and 280,700 were located outside of the U.S.

During the quarter, NoMad, Graduate by Hilton and Small Luxury Hotels of the World became available for reservations on Hilton booking channels. The addition of SLH hotels brings Hilton’s hotel portfolio to 10 additional countries and territories.

“We continued to demonstrate the strength of our model, opening more rooms than any other quarter in our history, surpassing 8,000 hotels and achieving net unit growth of 7.8%,” said Hilton President and CEO Christopher Nassetta.

Nassetta added that in the Asia Pacific market, Hilton surpassed 900 hotels and opened its 700th hotel in China. Additionally, Spark by Hilton opened 20 hotels during 3Q24, including a debut in Canada.

Hilton repurchased 3.3 million shares of common stock during the third quarter, bringing total capital return, including dividends, to $764 million for the quarter and $2.422 billion year to date through October.