Hyatt Bets on Luxury, Wins Big and Raises 2026 Growth Outlook

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) stock rose in Thursday’s premarket trading after the hotel operator reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and raised its full-year revenue per available room growth forecast, supported by strong U.S. travel demand and higher management fees.

Beats Earnings Estimates

Hyatt reported adjusted earnings of $1.27 per share, beating analysts’ consensus estimate of 77 cents. The company reported an adjusted loss of 30 cents per share a year earlier.

Revenue declined 2.41% year over year to $1.743 billion from $1.786 billion, narrowly missing Wall Street’s estimate of $1.747 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.

Net income attributable to Hyatt reached $58 million, or 60 cents per diluted share. Adjusted net income totaled $122 million.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 6.2% year over year to $295 million, or 19% after adjusting for assets sold in 2025.

Gross fees climbed 15.2% to $327 million, driven by strong hotel performance and expansion.

U.S. Travel Demand Drives Growth

Comparable system-wide hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose 7.2% year over year, led by luxury properties and strong leisure and group travel demand.

U.S. RevPAR increased 8.2%, benefiting partly from the FIFA World Cup and the timing of Jewish holidays.

However, comparable all-inclusive resort net package RevPAR declined 2.5%, primarily due to weaker demand in parts of Mexico.

Base management fees increased 10%, while incentive management fees jumped 21.9%. Franchise and other fees rose 16.8%.

Hyatt opened 3,808 rooms during the quarter. Its development pipeline expanded 12.1% to approximately 158,000 rooms.

Net rooms growth reached 3.8% over the trailing 12 months. Meanwhile, World of Hyatt membership grew 19% to approximately 72 million.

Hyatt Raises 2026 Growth Forecast

Hyatt expects full-year comparable system-wide hotel RevPAR growth of 5% to 5.5%, reflecting stronger third-quarter performance.

The company forecasts net rooms growth of approximately 6% and net income of $240 million to $310 million.

Hyatt projects adjusted EBITDA of $1.17 billion to $1.20 billion, representing growth of 14% to 17% on an adjusted comparison basis. Gross fees are expected to reach $1.32 billion to $1.335 billion.

Adjusted free cash flow is projected at $580 million to $630 million.

Balance Sheet and Shareholder Returns

As of Sept. 30, Hyatt reported total debt of $4.4 billion and liquidity of $1.8 billion, including $495 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Available borrowing capacity totaled $1.347 billion.

Hyatt repurchased $147 million in shares during the quarter, bringing year-to-date shareholder returns to $336 million. Approximately $1.4 billion remained under its repurchase authorization.

The company also raised its full-year shareholder returns forecast to $375 million to $425 million through dividends and repurchases.

Hyatt declared a quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share, payable Dec. 7 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 23.

H Price Action: Hyatt Hotels shares were up 2.81% at $178.22 during premarket trading on Thursday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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