Yahoo Finance Marriott (MAR) to Boost Presence in India With Over 100 Hotels
Marriott International, Inc. MAR recently announced plans to expand its presence in India. The initiative supports the company’s development strategy to open 250 hotels in the region by 2025.
According to media reports, Marriott will likely boost its presence in 10 new cities (in India) with more than 100 new properties. The company currently operates 140 hotels in India.
With reference to the opening, Anthony Capuano, President & CEO of Marriott International, stated, "We are in 40 cities today, that should be 50 cities or more by 2025. And maybe what is exciting to me is that results in us creating 10,000 new jobs across India."
More Focus on Expansion
Marriott is consistently trying to expand its presence worldwide and capitalize on the demand for hotels in international markets. The company plans to expand its global portfolio of luxury and lifestyle brands. At the end of fourth-quarter 2022, Marriott's development pipeline totaled 3,028 hotels, with approximately 496,000 rooms. Nearly 199,000 rooms were under construction. During the quarter, the company added 145 new properties (22,589 rooms) to its worldwide lodging portfolio.
For 2023, the company anticipates net room growth in the range of 4-4.5% year over year. The hotel company is also trying to strengthen its presence outside the United States, especially in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. The company’s European pipeline has grown consistently in the recent past and is expected to continue going forward.
Price Performance
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Coming to price performance, shares of Marriott have gained 2.3% in the past three months compared with the industry’s 1.7% growth. Marriott has been gaining from pent-up leisure demand, reopening international borders and lenient travel restrictions. Throughout the fourth quarter of 2022, the company witnessed a steady increase in demand in the United States, Canada, the Middle East and Africa regions. The company benefited from robust leisure demand and business and cross-border travel improvements. Also, it reported a strong RevPAR recovery in Europe. Group demand in the United States and Canada increased sharply during the quarter, leading to improved occupancies and strength in ADR. With global trends improving, the company expects the recovery momentum to continue.
Attributes such as pent-up demand for all types of travel, the shift of spending towards experiences versus goods, sustained high levels of employment, lifting of travel restrictions and opening borders (in most markets) are likely to aid the company in the upcoming periods. Meanwhile, earnings estimates for 2023 have increased in the past 60 days, depicting analysts’ optimism regarding the stock growth potential.
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Marriott currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector are Cedar Fair, L.P. FUN, Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. HGV and Crocs, Inc. CROX.
Cedar Fair sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 64.5%, on average. The stock has declined 22.3% in the past year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FUN’s 2024 sales and EPS indicates a rise of 2% and 6.5%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s estimated levels.
Hilton Grand Vacations currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. HGV has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 12.1%, on average. Shares of HGV have declined 6.5% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for HGV’s 2023 sales and EPS indicates a rise of 7.1% and 10.8%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.
Crocs sports a Zacks Rank #1. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 21.8%, on average. Shares of Crocs have increased 80.9% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CROX’s 2023 sales and EPS indicates a rise of 12.5% and 2.5%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.
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Marriott International, Inc. (MAR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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