Marriott shares rise on robust demand forecast
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Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR) is adding to the chorus of bullish forecasts on summer leisure on Wednesday.

"Globally, robust demand trends continued in April, and going forward we expect leisure travel to remain strong, business travel to accelerate and cross border travel to gain momentum, supporting solid [average daily rate] performance,â CEO Anthony Capuano said. âIn the U.S. & Canada, we reached a milestone in April, as we estimate that RevPAR for the month was fully recovered to 2019 levels.â

He added that the return to pre-pandemic levels in major markets is increasing optimism that financial results will recover back to 2019 levels soon as well. The only hangup in terms of RevPAR trends was noted in Greater China as lockdowns understandably weigh on business. 

The comments add to an overall encouraging hotel operator, which printed a big beat on profits and only narrowly missed revenue estimates. Non-GAAP EPS for the first quarter reached $1.25, pushing past estimates by $0.33 while revenue at $4.2 billion came short of expectations by only $30 million.

Shares rose about 2% in pre-market hours.

Elsewhere, management announced the resumption of shareholder return programs from their pandemic-driven suspension. The step comes sooner than had been initially forecast due to solid results, Capuano explained.

"Our focus on maximizing cash flow, managing expenses, and improving our credit profile, combined with strong first quarter results, has resulted in our Board of Directors declaring a $0.30 per share quarterly cash dividend payable at the end of the second quarter,â he said. âAssuming the demand environment continues to improve and that we are within our target leverage ratio range, we also would expect to resume share repurchases in 2022.â

In terms of spending, the Bethesda-based hospitality chain is also adding to property holdings. During the first quarter, 75 properties were added against 16 exited. The development pipeline stands at 2,878 properties, or more than 489,000 rooms. 
Read more on the AirBnBâs similarly rosy demand forecasts.