CANNES, France — A dip in gas prices from the highs of the Iran war appears to be prompting people to stay in hotels for the July 4 holiday weekend.
“We feel good about forward bookings on the Fourth of July. And even here in Europe, we see pretty solid bookings of inbound international,” Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano told Yahoo Finance at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity on Tuesday. “So we expect the summer to be strong.”
The commentary jibes with Marriott’s start to the year.
From their rooms with private balconies, guests staying at Orlando World Center Marriott can enjoy Walt Disney World’s nightly fireworks. (PRNewsFoto/Orlando World Center Marriott)
Marriott delivered a solid first quarter earnings report, beating Wall Street expectations with a 6% year-over-year revenue increase to $6.65 billion and posting a 17% jump in adjusted diluted earnings per share to $2.72.
The hospitality giant’s performance was primarily driven by a resilient recovery in global travel demand, which pushed systemwide revenue per available room (RevPAR) up 4.2% globally. RevPAR was paced by a 4% bounce-back in the US and Canada and a nearly 6% increase in Greater China.
Read more: Best hotel credit cards for June 2026
Marriott raised its annual RevPAR growth outlook to a range of 2% to 3%, a 0.5% increase at both ends. The company did acknowledge, however, unknowns in the Middle East amid ongoing tensions with the US.
“While the fiscal year raise did not fully reflect the magnitude of the 1Q beat (mostly due to impending asset sale), we view Marriott’s near-term outlook as constructive. U.S. demand remained robust into April across chain scales, global group pace is running ~5% for the balance of the year, and potential upside from the credit card renewal is not yet embedded in guidance,” Evercore ISI’s Duane Pfennigwerth wrote in a note.
Pfennigwerth rates Marriott at Outperform with a $400 price target.
More than 88% of the Wall Street analysts that cover Marriott rate the stock a Buy or Hold, according to Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace.
Marriott stock is up about 25% year to date compared to a 20% gain for rival Hilton (HLT).
Capuano said demand trends in the Middle East have only marginally improved amid the US deal with Iran.
“We expect RevPAR will be down in 2Q plus or minus 50% [in the Middle East],” Capuano added. “But I was just in London with our Middle East general managers two weeks ago, and in talking to them — this is certainly anecdotal — but their view is as soon as travelers both in the region and internally have a sense that the tensions have in fact settled, they expect a very steep recovery.”
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance’s Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance’s editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.