BofA/Merrill analyst Shaun Kelley downgraded Pebblebrook Hotel (PEB) to Neutral from Buy and lowered his price target for the shares to $29 from $33. The analyst expects a more cautious tone from Lodging companies during the Q2 earnings reports, particularly on corporate demand. He thinks full year guidance cuts "are now on the table" and downgraded Pebblebrook to reflect greater uncertainty. He continues to favor asset-light C-corps like Hilton (HLT), Marriott (MAR) and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (WH) over the "more cyclical" Lodging real estate investment trust.

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.

Reports Q1 revenue $304M, consensus $308.26M. Global RevPAR grew 1% in constant currency and ancillary revenues grew 8% compared to Q1 2023. "We're thrilled to announce another strong quarter of progress in our executions, openings, franchisee retention and net room growth around the world," said CEO Geoff Ballotti. "Increased interest from hotel owners in our brands has propelled our development pipeline to a record 243,000 rooms, marking an impressive 8% increase. Our strong balance sheet and cash flow generation capabilities provide significant opportunity to continue to enhance returns to our shareholders over both the short and long-term, as evidenced by our Board of Directors' approval of a $400M increase in our share repurchase authorization."

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."

The company stated: "Business demand-both group and transient-continued to recover, driving increased occupancy in Washington D.C., San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. Leisure demand remained roughly in line with the prior year, despite bad weather impacting many weekends in Florida and on the West Coast; the Company's resorts continue to maintain significant ADR premiums to 2019. Recently redeveloped hotels-including Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, Margaritaville Hotel San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, Viceroy Santa Monica Hotel, L'Auberge Del Mar, 1 Hotel San Francisco, and Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa-are demonstrating the benefits of their substantial investments with healthy gains in RevPAR, market share, cash flow, and future bookings."

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.