Hilton exceeds Q4 estimates but stock slides on soft 2024 outlook

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:) has reported better-than-anticipated Q4 earnings and revenue, but the stock fell 0.7% in premarket trading on a soft full-year EPS outlook.

For the fourth quarter, the hospitality giant posted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.68, which is higher than the estimated $1.56. The company’s revenue for the quarter was slightly above forecasts at $2.61 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.6 billion.

The hotel chain saw its total location count rise to 7,530, a 5.1% increase year-over-year, beating the estimate of 7,500 locations.

Hilton’s adjusted EBITDA margin also improved, reaching 69.3% compared to 68.6% in the previous year, and exceeding analysts’ expectations of 66.9%.

Looking ahead to fiscal year 2024, Hilton has set its EPS guidance at $6.80 to $6.94, short of the consensus projection of $7.07.

The company expects its adjusted EBITDA to be between $3.33 billion and $3.38 billion, which is above the estimated $3.28 billion.

For the first quarter of 2024, Hilton expects its adjusted EPS will be in the range of $1.36 to $1.44, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40.

“We expect this momentum to continue into 2024 and net unit growth to accelerate to the high end of our guidance range of 5.5 percent to 6.0 percent, with the opportunity for further upside of 25 to 50 basis points from our exclusive partnership with Small Luxury Hotels of the World.” the company said.