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Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) shares rose on Thursday as solid momentum in luxury travel and stronger leisure demand helped lift key performance metrics, despite a slight top-line miss. H shares are climbing with conviction. Get the market research here Investors cheered the improved profitability, a larger pipeline, higher planned capital returns, and a positive growth outlook. Hyatt Hotels reported third-quarter sales of $1.786 billion, marginally missing the Street view of $1.809 billion. Also Read: Marriott Cashes In On Luxury Hotel Demand, Lifts Outlook On Tuesday, Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR) stock rose after the company reported a third-quarter beat, stronger fee income, and robust room additions. Marriott had said that its luxury hotels outperformed globally. In line with Marriott, Hyatt's comparable system-wide hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 0.3% from the prior-year quarter. The luxury chain's scale led to a growth in RevPAR in the third quarter. Leisure transient RevPAR was the strongest performer. However, group RevPAR was trimmed by 100 basis points due to Rosh Hashanah falling in the third quarter this year, compared to the fourth quarter of last year. Quarterly Metrics Net rooms grew 12.1% overall, or 7.0% excluding acquisitions. Adjusted EBITDA was $291 million, up 5.6% from the third quarter of 2024. Excluding 2024 asset sales, adjusted EBITDA rose 10.1%. The pipeline of executed management or franchise contracts totaled 141,000 rooms, representing a 4.4% year-over-year increase. Gross fees rose 5.9% from a year ago in the quarter, or 6.3% excluding the impact of the Playa Hotels acquisition. During the third quarter, the company opened 5,163 rooms. It also announced a master franchise agreement with HomeInns Hotel Group, which plans to open 50 Hyatt Studios hotels over the next several years and develop a strong future pipeline across China. Hyatt Hotels reported a third-quarter adjusted loss of 30 cents per share. As of September 30, the company had $6.0 billion in total debt and $749 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Dividend The company declared a 15-cent per-share cash dividend for the fourth quarter of 2025, payable on December 8 to Class A and Class B stockholders of record as of November 24. Outlook "Looking into the fourth quarter and beyond, we believe our high-end customer base, robust pipeline with significant white space for growth, and rapidly expanding loyalty program position us to drive sustained growth and create long-term value for our shareholders," CEO Mark S. Hoplamazian said. Hyatt expects 2025 comparable system-wide hotel RevPAR to rise 2% to 2.5% from 2024. The adjusted EBITDA outlook is projected to be between $1.09 billion and $1.11 billion (prior view: $1.085 billion to $1.130 billion). It represents a 7% to 9% growth compared to the full year 2024 (prior view: 7% to 11% growth), after adjusting for assets sold in 2024. The company has increased its 2025 outlook for capital returns to shareholders and is projected to return approximately $350 million (prior view: $300 million) of capital to shareholders through a combination of cash dividends on its common stock and share repurchases. H Price Action: Hyatt Hotels shares were up 5.30% at $145.31 at the time of publication on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data. Read Next: Why Is Air Products Stock Soaring Today? Photo: BestPhotoPlus/Shutterstock
