Hyatt Swings to Profit as U.S. Demand Offsets Conflict
Hyatt raised its full-year RevPAR growth forecast to 3.5%-4.5% after stronger U.S. demand.
Hyatt Hotels (H), the hotel operator, swung to a second-quarter profit as higher fees and broad demand growth outside the Middle East outweighed weakness at all-inclusive resorts. Net income attributable to the company was $110 million, or $1.14 a diluted share, compared with a loss of $3 million, or $0.03 a share, a year earlier.
Comparable system-wide hotel RevPAR rose 5.9% from a year earlier, accelerating from 5.4% in the first quarter. Average daily rates increased 5.0%, while occupancy gained 0.6 percentage point. Group travel strengthened alongside leisure demand, while business transient RevPAR remained in the low single digits.
Revenue rose 1.2% to $1.829 billion from $1.808 billion a year earlier, even as owned-and-leased revenue fell 9.9% and distribution revenue declined 14.1%. Net fees increased 7.3% to $307 million. Adjusted Ebitda rose 3.4% to $297 million, compared with 2.1% growth in the first quarter; excluding the effect of 2025 asset sales, growth was 8.8%.
The U.S. led the quarter's resilience with a 6.7% RevPAR increase. Asia Pacific excluding Greater China rose 10.3%, and the Americas excluding the U.S. gained 9.5%. Luxury and upper-upscale hotels each posted 6.6% growth, while upscale properties increased 3.6%.
Conflict in the Middle East cut about 110 basis points from system-wide RevPAR growth, compared with roughly 50 basis points in the first quarter. RevPAR in the Middle East and Africa fell 28.3% as occupancy dropped 18.1 percentage points. All-inclusive Net Package RevPAR declined 1.2% after rising 7.4% in the prior quarter, reflecting lower occupancy and weaker demand in Mexico alongside hurricane-related closures in Jamaica.
Hyatt raised its full-year system-wide hotel RevPAR growth outlook from 2%-4%, citing strong second-quarter U.S. performance that included the FIFA World Cup. It maintained adjusted Ebitda guidance of $1.155 billion to $1.205 billion, while lowering its net-income forecast to $250 million-$335 million from $255 million-$350 million.
Net rooms growth slowed to 3.9% over the trailing 12 months from 5.0% in the first quarter, and Hyatt trimmed its full-year forecast to approximately 6% from 6%-7% as some openings could move into early 2027. The executed-room pipeline nevertheless grew 10.0% to about 154,000 rooms.
Hyatt repurchased $12 million of shares during the quarter, down from $135 million in the first quarter, and returned $175 million through dividends and buybacks in the first half. The company kept its full-year capital-return forecast at $325 million-$375 million.