Kansas

Sonesta to Reflag Two Properties to The James Brand

Lodging stocks were mixed but the biggest movers were to the upside. VCSA and SLNA both rose 6% on the day. The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index fell -10% in December. That put all of 2022 down -15% from 2021. The Hotel Brand sub-index was down -9.2% in December from November while the Hotel REIT sub-index was down -12.8% Sonesta International Hotels Corporation announced the expansion of its global development strategy to include The James brand as part of the Sonesta Franchise portfolio in the U.S. and in Latin America.

IHG Opens Its Newest Hotel Indigo in New York

The DJIA ended the day down 142 points, falling after the Fed press conference after raising rates again. Nasdaq was down 86, the S&P 500 fell 24 points and the 10 year treasury yield was unchanged at 3.50%. Citigroup cut their ratings on Hilton and Marriott to Neutral from Buy. US RevPAR was up 16.7% year over year while RevPAR was up 13.7% versus the same week in 2019.

Commonwealth Hotels Acquires 2 Houston Properties

Overall, stocks gave back most of their pre-market gains. Lodging stocks wound up mixed on the day. Commonwealth Hotels acquired the 120-suite Residence Inn Houston-West University and the 100-room Courtyard by Marriott Houston-West University. Aimbridge Hospitality announced the expansion of its portfolio with the addition of three extended stay properties recently acquired by Three Wall Capital, LLC.

U.S. Rates Are Higher But Not Back to 2019

Airbnb saw its rating cut at Baird to Neutral from Outperform. Baird lowered their price target to $100 from $120. The U.S hotel industry reported higher performance from the month prior but weakened comparisons with 2019 , according to October 2022 data from STR . Through Q3 2022 , the U.S. hotel industry exceeded 2019 RevPAR levels by 6.4%, based on data from STR.

REITs Remain Cautious About Corporate Travel

MCG and INN both were up 6% while SVC and SLNA were up 5% each. SOND fell -5% on the day. Xenia Hotels & Resorts announced its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $100 million of the company’s outstanding common shares. With the additional authorization U.S. lodging REIT management teams did express concerns about cracks in demand forming with technology customers soon after recent layoff announcements.

Los Cabos, Mexico’s Growth Attracts More Hotel Brands

Lodging stocks were mostly lower. SOND was up 6% but that was pretty much it for any type of positive movement.  MCG fell another -11%, SLNA was down -7%, SOHO and ABNB both fell -5%. JP Morgan lowered their rating on Membership Collective Group to Neutral from Overweight. JPM said their downgraded was based on MGC’s exposure to Europe. Los Cabos Tourism Board announced unprecedented growth in tourism arrivals is expected by the end of 2022 with more than 3.3 million visitors.

Business Travel Shows No Sign of a Recession

The  DJIA fell another 0.6% on Tuesday, Nasdaq was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the 10-year treasury yield rose to 3.963%, its peak since 2010. Truist reported on a conference call it held with corporate travel data company Tripbam . Takeaways included that any indications of a recession have not yet shown up in business travel bookings and pricing data . Evercore ISI Group upped its rating on Hyatt to Outperform from In Line. Their price target is $100.

Hotel Acquisitions Cool in Northern California

The DJIA  rose 19 points, Nasdaq was up 27, the S&P 500 was up 10, the 10-year Treasury yield was down .01 to 2.88% and lodging stocks were higher on a calm day in the market. B.Riley Securities upped its price target on Ashford Inc to $23 from $19. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust said total revenue in July topped pre-pandemic levels for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.