Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H Quick QuoteH - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 results, wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Following the results, the company’s shares are up nearly 1% in the pre-market trading session today.

The company reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 63 cents per share, up 37% from 46 cents a year ago. The metric beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 57 cents per share by 10.5%. Total revenues rose 1.7% year over year to $1,748 million and topped the consensus mark of $1,712 million by 2.1%.

Hyatt’s operating backdrop stayed constructive, with comparable system-wide hotels RevPAR increasing 5.4% and comparable system-wide all-inclusive resorts Net Package RevPAR rising 7.4% from the year-ago quarter.

H Leans on Fee Momentum as Travel Mix Improves

Hyatt’s first-quarter performance again highlighted its fee-driven model. Gross fees increased 8.6% year over year to $333 million, supported by continued strength in Hyatt’s managed and franchised base and contributions from newer hotels.

Base management fees rose 10.9% on stronger performance outside the United States, solid U.S. resort trends and fees associated with the Playa Hotels acquisition. Incentive management fees advanced 13.8%, driven by the Playa Hotels acquisition, newly opened hotels and strength in Asia Pacific, partly offset by lower fees in the Middle East and Mexico. Franchise and other fees increased 3.1%, helped by non-RevPAR fee contributions and select-service gains in the United States.

Hyatt’s Revenue Mix Highlights Reimbursed Costs

The quarter’s revenue composition continued to reflect Hyatt’s role as manager and operator across a global portfolio. Revenues for reimbursed costs were $945 million, while reimbursed costs were $963 million, underscoring the pass-through nature of a sizable portion of reported revenues and expenses.

Outside reimbursed costs, Hyatt generated net fees of $310 million and recorded contra revenues of $23 million. Owned and leased revenues were $219 million, while distribution revenues were $274 million.

H’s EBITDA Bridge Shows Impact of Special Items

Adjusted EBITDA increased to $266 million from $261 million in the first quarter of 2025. By segment, management and franchising adjusted EBITDA rose to $264 million from $236 million, while distribution adjusted EBITDA declined to $29 million from $49 million and owned and leased adjusted EBITDA moved to $10 million from $15 million. Overhead was $37 million compared with $40 million a year ago.

On the bottom line, net income attributable to Hyatt Hotels Corporation was $38 million compared with $20 million a year ago, translating to diluted earnings of 40 cents per share compared with 19 cents. Adjusted net income was $61 million compared with $46 million in the prior-year quarter, reflecting total special items of $23 million after tax.

Hyatt Steps Up Buybacks, Maintains Strong Liquidity

Hyatt ended the quarter with total liquidity of $2.2 billion, including $671 million of cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and $1,497 million of borrowing capacity under its revolving credit facility, net of letters of credit outstanding. Total debt was $4.3 billion.

Capital returns remained active. Hyatt repurchased 840,249 shares of Class A common stock for $135 million, bringing total capital returned to its shareholders, including dividends, to $149 million in the quarter. The board also declared a cash dividend of 15 cents per share for the second quarter of 2026, payable June 11, 2026, to its shareholders of record as of May 29.

H Sets 2026 Targets as Distribution Faces Headwinds

For full-year 2026, Hyatt expects comparable system-wide hotels RevPAR growth of 2% to 4% and net rooms increase of 6% to 7%. Net income attributable to Hyatt Hotels Corporation is projected between $255 million and $350 million, with gross fees expected at $1,305-$1,335 million and adjusted EBITDA forecast at $1,155-$1,205 million.

Management said the RevPAR outlook reflects improving trends in the United States, with U.S. RevPAR expected to grow 2% to 3% for the year, while assuming moderately higher growth internationally than in the United States. Hyatt also expects the distribution segment adjusted EBITDA to decline about $25 million in 2026 compared with 2025, caused by lower demand in Mexico in the first and second quarters, tied to isolated security concerns that emerged in February 2026.

Hyatt currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Key Picks

Some better-ranked stocks from the Zacks Consumer Discretionary sector are GDEV Inc. (GDEV Quick QuoteGDEV - Free Report) , Accel Entertainment, Inc. (ACEL Quick QuoteACEL - Free Report) and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (TTWO Quick QuoteTTWO - Free Report) .

GDEV presently sports a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 262.7%, on average. The consensus estimate for GDEV’s 2026 sales and EPS implies growth of 6.4% and 23.8%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

Accel Entertainment carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 23.4%, on average.

The consensus estimate for Accel Entertainment’s 2026 sales and EPS implies growth of 5.1% and 15%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

Take-Two Interactive carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 58.9%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Take-Two Interactive’s 2026 sales and EPS indicates growth of 18.2% and 90.7%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.