BMO Capital analyst Ari Klein initiated coverage of Marriott with a Market Perform rating and $128 price target. The analyst says the company's scale with over 1.3M rooms in its global portfolio is impressive and its "asset-light approach" yields a high margin and drives strong free cash flows. However, Klein is concerned with the elevated macro headwinds that are likely to pressure Marriott's RevPAR and also weigh on its incentive fees, which he sees as more susceptible to industry cyclicality while representing about 17% of the company's gross fee revenues.

Mizuho lowered the firm's price target on Marriott to $260 from $263 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The analyst cites a more conservative view on RevPAR ahead of the Q1 report for the target drop. RevPAR trends have been slightly weaker than previously modeled, primarily in the United States, the analyst tells investors in a research note.