Following this morning's Q4 results, Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli believes shares of Hilton Worldwide can continue to work for two reasons. One, according to the analyst, is the company's accelerating unit growth pipeline. The second is the likelihood of a greater than 25% year-over-year increase in the return of capital, Santarelli tells investors in a post-earnings research note. He raised his price target for Hilton oi $92 from $90 and maintains a Buy rating on the name.

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."