Marriott shares climb following earnings, revenue beat By Investing.com

By Sam Boughedda 

Marriott (NASDAQ:) shares are slightly higher premarket on the back of its fourth quarter earnings and revenue beat.

The hotel operator reported of $1.96, $0.13 better than the analyst estimate of $1.83, with revenue for the quarter coming in at $5.92 billion versus the consensus estimate of $5.39B.

RevPAR grew 5% compared to 2019, driven by a 13% increase in ADR.

“Our performance in 2022 was terrific. Just two years after experiencing the sharpest downturn in our company’s history, we reported record financial results,” said Anthony Capuano, Marriott’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our fee-driven, asset-light business model generated significant cash during the year, allowing us to both invest in the growth of our business and return $2.9 billion to shareholders.”

Looking forward, Marriott sees first quarter adjusted earnings from $1.82 to $1.88 per share, above consensus expectations.

Reacting to the results, Deutsche Bank analysts, who have a Hold rating and $159 price target on Marriott, said the results were “strong.”

“This morning, MAR reported strong 4Q22 results, beating our model on the top and bottom lines, largely driven by better International RevPAR growth, which led to upside on the incentive management fee and owned/leased lines,” the analysts stated.

“In addition, MAR 1) provided initial full year 2023 guidance, which is above Consensus across essentially all key line items (1Q23 guidance is also above), 2) repurchased $1.4 bn of stock in 4Q22 and $400 mm YTD in 2023, and 3) noted a strong beginning to 1Q23, with worldwide RevPAR up 51.6% in January (reflecting easy comps due to Omicron in 1Q22).”