UBS analyst Robin Farley raised her price target on Hilton (HLT) to $74 from $64 following meetings with management. The analyst cited the renegotiation of a new credit card branding agreement with AmEx (AXP), current valuation, and the raising of unit growth estimates. Farley reiterated her Buy rating on Hilton shares.

Truist analyst C. Patrick Scholes raised the firm's price target on Hilton to $209 from $199 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares after its Q1 earnings beat. The company reported "powerful" earnings earnings growth in spite of the "choppy" RevPAR macro backdrop, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Truist adds however that while it continues to view Hilton's business model as among the best-in-class, it is retaining its Hold rating as it sees the stock being "fairly valued at a premium valuation".

Macquarie raised the firm's price target on Hilton to $205 from $192 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares following what the firm calls "another strong EBITDA beat" in Q1. Management also increased its 2024 EBITDA guidance, notes the firm, which still awaits a better entry point.

Wells Fargo raised the firm's price target on American Express to $265 from $250 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. The firm sees a good case for management to express greater confidence in or lean to the upper end of the EPS or revenue guide for 2024. With the macro haze fading, Wells believes investors will come away with a greater appreciation of the competitive position and moat.

Reports Q1 revenue $2.573, consensus $2.55B. Q1 system-wide comparable RevPAR increased 2.0%, on a currency neutral basis, compared to the same period in 2023. Christopher J. Nassetta, President & CEO, said, "We are pleased to report a strong first quarter with bottom line results meaningfully exceeding our expectations, further demonstrating the power of our resilient, fee-based business model and strong development story. During the first quarter, system-wide RevPAR increased 2.0 percent as renovations, inclement weather and unfavorable holiday shifts weighed on performance more than anticipated. On the development side, we continued to see great momentum across signings, starts and openings. As a result of our record pipeline and the growth pace we've seen to-date, we expect net unit growth of 6.0%-6.5% for the full year, excluding the planned acquisition of the Graduate Hotels brand."