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Morgan Stanley Prefers C-Corps Over Hotel REITs for Strong Growth Outlook

Morgan Stanley favors C-Corps over hotel REITs for their growth potential and downside protection, while Barclays upgraded Park Hotels and Resorts due to its high dividend yield. Choice Hotels missed estimates, and the potential acquisition by Wyndham remains uncertain, with suggestions for possible negotiation tactics.   Various hotels reported earnings and developments, with openings, auctions, and construction plans in different regions, including California, Texas, and North Carolina.

Hyatt's Heavy Canadian Expansion

Earnings reports from various hotel and hospitality companies have mixed results, with Marriott International and Hyatt facing disappointment, while Park Hotels, Chatham Lodging Trust, Host Hotels, RLJ Lodging Trust, and Summit Hotel Properties pleased investors. Hyatt Hotels plans to double its brand footprint in Canada with 23 new hotels by 2026, including airport locations and Hyatt Centric and Hyatt House properties. Various hotel acquisitions, openings, and renovations are announced, including the launch of Pendry Tampa and Pendry Residences Tampa, and the renovation of L'Ermitage Beverly Hills. Selina Hospitality faces financial challenges and seeks to restructure its debt.

Marriott's New Midscale Brand Is Called StudioRes

MAR and HLT lodging stocks hit new highs, while several stock targets and ratings were adjusted. Q2 2023 shows a total construction pipeline of 552 projects/88,477 rooms in Latin America. Mexico leads with 213 projects/33,853 rooms. Marriott International dominates the franchise scene with 116 projects/18,733 rooms. Project MidX Studios is renamed StudioRes by MAR for the US and Canada market.

Relative Optimism for Hotel Earnings Season Among Analysts

Truist expects varied 2Q earnings for the hotel sector, with C-Corps' results depending on geography and customer mix. U.S. hotel industry performance in June 2023 showed improvements from the previous month but lower year-over-year changes. RLJ Lodging Trust 's Nashville property joins Hilton's Tapestry Collection after a comprehensive renovation, marking the company's third conversion in 2023.

Blackstone Raises a $30 Billion Investment Fund

Blackstone announced the final close of its Blackstone Real Estate Partners X fund with $30.4 billion of total capital commitments, the largest real estate or private equity drawdown fund ever raised. Truist lowered their target price on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, saying they have concerns over 2024 San Francisco conventions along with rising hotel-level costs. Celebrating its five-year anniversary, the Hard Rock Hotel Dayton Beach in Florida debuted a multimillion renovation including refreshed guestrooms and youth club and revamped memorabilia.

Hotels Spend Big on Renovations and Expansions

Truist lowered their price target on Park Hotels & Resorts to $19 from $20 while maintaining their Buy rating. BRE Hotels & Resorts and The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua are celebrating the recent success of the property following a $100 million transformation. The iconic Fairmont Hotel in downtown Vancouver, Canada, is looking to expand with an annex tower, but it will not provide any additional hotel rooms.

Hotel Winners and Losers in RevPAR Rankings

Lodging stocks were mixed but the big movers were all to the downside. SLNA traded down another -7% to another all-time low. VCSA and MCG were both down -6%. Service Properties Trust kept its positive momentum going, reporting a 159% increase in normalized FFO in 4Q22. Xenia Hotels & Resorts reported 4Q results slightly ahead of expectations but gave a mixed 2023 outlook.

Belmond and the Cipriani Family Make Peace

RLJ Lodging Trust reported in-line results with some limited guidance they gave in January at ALIS. Summit Hotel Properties reported 4Q results ahead of estimates with strong earnings contributions from the recently acquired properties, including NewcrestImage. Argus Research upped their rating on Airbnb to Buy from Hold with a $144 price target.

Hotel Purchases and Development Heat Up in Early January

The DJIA rose 133 points while Nasdaq was up 72, the S&P 500 was up 29 points and the 10 year treasury yield was down .08 to 3.71%. Canada’s hotel performance came in lower than the month prior but showed improved comparisons to 2019, according to STR ‘s November 2022 data. Kolter Urban is planning to build a Ritz-Carlton Hotel Residences in Sarasota Bay, Florida .

REITs Remain Cautious About Corporate Travel

MCG and INN both were up 6% while SVC and SLNA were up 5% each. SOND fell -5% on the day. Xenia Hotels & Resorts announced its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $100 million of the company’s outstanding common shares. With the additional authorization U.S. lodging REIT management teams did express concerns about cracks in demand forming with technology customers soon after recent layoff announcements.