Marriott Earnings: Swung to a Profit

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Marriott International Inc. (NYSE:MAR) reported its results for the third quarter. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels and related lodging facilities throughout the world.

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Marriott International Inc. Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Reported a profit of $143 million (44 cents per diluted share) in the quarter. The hotels and motels had a net loss of $179 million or a loss of 52 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Fell 5% to $2.73 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: Marriott International Inc. beat the mean analyst estimate of 40 cents per share. It fell short of the average revenue estimate of $2.84 billion.

Quoting Management: Arne M. Sorenson, president and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said, “We were pleased with our third quarter performance. Pricing power continued to improve in the quarter as hotel occupancy levels approached prior peaks. Group revenue at comparable Marriott Hotels and Resorts in North America rose eight percent in the third quarter with room rates up three percent. Transient REVPAR rose six percent with strong last-minute retail demand and reduced discounting.”

Key Stats:

Revenue has fallen for the last three quarters in a row. In the second quarter, revenue declined 6.6% to $2.78 billion while the figure fell 8.1% in the first quarter from the year earlier.

The company beat estimates last quarter after meeting expectations in the second quarter with net income of 42 cents per share.

Looking Forward: Analysts have a more positive outlook about the company’s results for next quarter. The average estimate for fourth quarter is 57 cents per share, an increase from 55 cents sixty days ago. Over the past three months, the average estimate for the fiscal year has climbed from $1.64 per to share to $1.70.

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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