H

Based in Maryland, Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (HST) is the largest lodging real estate investment trust (REIT) and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. Valued at a market cap of $17.2 billion, the company owns 70 properties in the United States and five properties internationally, and partners with premium brands such as Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Westin, W, The Luxury Collection, Hyatt, and more. HST is expected to release its Q3 2026 earnings on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, after the market closes. Ahead of the event, analysts expect the company's FFO to be $0.38 on a diluted basis, up 8.6% from $0.35 in the year-ago quarter. The company has exceeded Wall Street's FFO estimates in each of its last four quarters. - 'No Question Tesla's Going to Merge With SpaceX' — Kevin O'Leary Says If You Own Tesla Stock, You'll Own the New Company After Flying Roadster Demo - Jensen Huang Says the Next Wave of AI Is Physical. Forget Nvidia and Tesla, I'd Bet on These 2 Mid-Cap Stocks Instead. - AST SpaceMobile Stock Gets a New Catalyst. Wall Street Sees 93% Upside. - Get exclusive insights with the FREE Barchart Brief newsletter. Subscribe now for quick, incisive midday market analysis you won't find anywhere else. For fiscal 2026, analysts project the company's FFO to be $2.19, up 5.8% from $2.07 in fiscal 2025. Moreover, its FFO is expected to rise marginally year over year (YoY) to $2.20 in fiscal 2027. HST stock has grown 50.7% over the past 52 weeks, outpacing the S&P 500 Index's ($SPX) 15.2% rise and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF's (XLRE) marginal decline during the same time frame. On Aug. 5, HST stock rose marginally following the release of its better-than-expected Q2 2026 earnings. The company's revenue for the quarter amounted to $1.6 billion, surpassing the Street's estimates. Moreover, its adjusted FFO for the period came in at $0.63, also topping the consensus estimates. Host Hotels expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $2.15 to $2.18 per share. Analysts are somewhat optimistic on HST, with the stock having a "Moderate Buy" rating overall. Among the 21 analysts covering the stock, 11 are recommending a "Strong Buy," one recommends a "Moderate Buy," and nine suggest a "Hold." HST's average analyst price target is $25.52, indicating an upside of 1.7% from the current price point. On the date of publication, Aritra Gangopadhyay did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com

The market expects Hyatt Hotels (H) to deliver a year-over-year increase in earnings on lower revenues when it reports results for the quarter ended September 2026. This widely-known consensus outlook is important in assessing the company's earnings picture, but a powerful factor that might influence its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates. The earnings report, which is expected to be released on October 29, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower. While the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call, it's worth handicapping the probability of a positive EPS surprise. This hotel operator is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.67 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +323.3%. Revenues are expected to be $1.77 billion, down 1% from the year-ago quarter. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.52% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period. Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Estimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core. The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier. Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only. A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP. Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell). For Hyatt Hotels, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -12.73%. On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #3. So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Hyatt Hotels will beat the consensus EPS estimate. While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number. For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Hyatt Hotels would post earnings of $0.9 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.12, delivering a surprise of +24.44%. Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates three times. An earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss. That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported. Hyatt Hotels doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release. Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

CHICAGO, September 17, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hyatt Hotels Corporation ("Hyatt" or the "Company") (NYSE: H) announced today that it will release third quarter 2026 financial results on Thursday, October 29, 2026, before the stock market opens, followed by a conference call at 9:00 a.m. CT. A live webcast will be available on the Company’s Investor Relations website at investors.hyatt.com. An archive of the webcast will be available for 90 days. Participants may also join via telephone by dialing: U.S. Toll-Free Number: 833.461.5787International Toll Number: 585.542.9983Conference ID: 557276147 Participants should dial in at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. A telephone replay will be available for one week beginning on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. CT by dialing: U.S. Toll-Free Number: 833.309.1852International Toll Number: 929.828.5978Conference ID: 557276147 About Hyatt Hotels CorporationHyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company guided by its purpose – to care for people so they can be their best. As of June 30, 2026, the Company's portfolio included more than 1,500 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 83 countries across six continents. The Company's offering includes brands in the Luxury Portfolio, including Park Hyatt®, Alila®, Miraval®, Impression by Secrets, and The Unbound Collection by Hyatt®; the Lifestyle Portfolio, including Andaz®, Thompson Hotels®, The Standard®, Dream® Hotels, The StandardX®, Breathless Resorts & Spas®, JdV by Hyatt®, Bunkhouse® Hotels, and Me and All Hotels; the Inclusive Collection, including Zoëtry® Wellness & Spa Resorts, Hyatt Ziva®, Hyatt Zilara®, Secrets® Resorts & Spas, Dreams® Resorts & Spas, Hyatt Vivid® Hotels & Resorts, Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts, Alua Hotels & Resorts®, and Sunscape® Resorts & Spas; the Classics Portfolio, including Grand Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Destination by Hyatt®, Hyatt Centric®, Hyatt Vacation Club®, and Hyatt®; and the Essentials Portfolio, including Caption by Hyatt®, Unscripted by Hyatt, Hyatt Place®, Hyatt House®, Hyatt Studios®, Hyatt Select, and UrCove. Subsidiaries of the Company operate the World of Hyatt® loyalty program, ALG Vacations®, Mr & Mrs Smith, Unlimited Vacation Club®, Amstar® DMC destination management services, and Trisept Solutions® technology services. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com. HHC-FIN View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260917599640/en/ Contacts Investors:Ryan Nuckols+1 [email protected] Media:Franziska Weber+ 1 [email protected]

Interested in Hydro One Limited? Here are five stocks we like better. Second-quarter results improved: Net income attributable to common shareholders rose 13.1% year over year to C$0.62 per share, while revenue net of purchased power increased 5.5% on higher approved rates, electricity demand and customer growth. Hydro One expanded its funding and investment plans: The company issued US$1 billion of 4.75% notes due 2031 and plans to become a regular U.S. debt-market issuer, while maintaining its goal of preserving an A credit rating. It also outlined more than C$3.4 billion in planned investment across three major transmission projects. Rate filing and earnings outlook remain intact: Hydro One expects to submit its 2028–2032 joint rate application in October, focusing on reliability, resilience and electrification while addressing affordability. Management continues to forecast annual EPS growth of 6% to 8% during the current rate period and declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.3531 per share. All In: Is MicroStrategy Overleveraging Its Future on Bitcoin? Hydro One (TSE:H) reported higher second-quarter earnings as approved 2026 rates, increased electricity demand and customer growth lifted revenue, while the company outlined a growing pipeline of transmission investments and plans to file its next joint rate application in October. Net income attributable to common shareholders rose 13.1% from the prior-year quarter, resulting in basic earnings per share of C$0.62, compared with C$0.54 in the second quarter of 2025. Chief Financial and Regulatory Officer Harry Taylor said the increase reflected higher revenue net of purchased power and lower depreciation, amortization and asset-removal costs, partly offset by increased operating expenses, interest expense and income taxes. → SoundHound AI Sends a Loud Signal After Its Q2 Earnings Beat Revenue net of purchased power increased 5.5% year over year. Transmission revenue rose 7.2%, driven primarily by Ontario Energy Board-approved 2026 rates and a 0.5% increase in average monthly peak demand. Distribution revenue net of purchased power increased 2.4%, supported by approved rates, 4% more electricity distributed and a 0.8% increase in customer count. Operating, maintenance and administration expenses increased about 3.4% from a year earlier. Transmission costs rose 4.7%, largely due to corporate-support costs and vegetation-management spending, partly offset by a one-time reduction in the property-tax provision. Distribution expenses increased 3.7% as the company spent more on emergency power restoration, line maintenance and corporate support. → AST SpaceMobile Earnings Just Reminded Investors How Risky Space Can Be Depreciation, amortization and asset-removal expenses declined 2.8%, primarily because storm-restoration efforts were lower than in the prior-year period. Interest expense increased 7.1%, reflecting higher long-term debt outstanding following issuances in late 2025 and the company’s first U.S.-dollar debt offering during the quarter. During the quarter, Hydro One issued US$1 billion of senior 4.75% notes due in 2031. Taylor said the company entered into a swap arrangement on the issuance date that produced a Canadian fixed-equivalent rate of 3.835%. → First Solar’s Profit Engine Faces a New Policy Test in Washington The proceeds are intended to repay maturing long-term debt and certain short-term indebtedness, including commercial paper, and to support general corporate purposes. Taylor said the company expects to become a regular issuer in the U.S. fixed-income market, while continuing to access Canadian markets, in order to diversify funding sources and support future capital needs. Hydro One’s funds from operations-to-net-debt ratio stood at 14.1% as of June 30. Taylor said the company aims to preserve its A credit rating and views 100 basis points above its 11% downgrade threshold as a “flashing yellow light,” while 50 basis points above the threshold would be a “flashing red light.” Second-quarter capital expenditures totaled C$812 million, down 11.1% from the same period in 2025. The decline reflected lower station refurbishment and equipment-replacement activity, reduced investment in the Waasigan, St. Clair and Northeast Power Line projects, and lower storm-related asset replacement spending. Those declines were partly offset by increased investments in Ontario’s broadband initiative, the AMI 2.0 advanced metering system and other development projects. President and CEO Megan Telford, leading her first earnings call in the role, said the company will continue to focus on customers, growth, solutions and partnerships. She emphasized investments in grid stability, storm preparedness and modernization as electricity demand grows, infrastructure ages and weather patterns change. Hydro One was designated on April 23 to develop the Red Lake transmission line in northwestern Ontario. The planned project includes a new double-circuit 230-kilovolt line from the Dryden transformer station to the Ear Falls transformer station, associated station facilities and a connection to the Red Lake switching station. The line is expected to enter service in the early 2030s and will use Hydro One’s 50/50 First Nation equity partnership model for participating First Nations along the route. During the quarter, the company submitted Ontario Energy Board leave-to-construct applications for three other major transmission projects: The Northeast Power Line, a 500-kilovolt line between the Greater Sudbury and Warren-Cliff areas. The Longwood to Lakeshore Line, a 500-kilovolt line connecting Strathroy-Caradoc and Lakeshore. The Durham Kawartha Line, a double-circuit 230-kilovolt line connecting Clarington and Peterborough County. Collectively, those three projects represent more than C$3.4 billion of planned investment and are expected to enter service between 2029 and 2030. Hydro One also filed an application for the approximately C$100 million Orléans Area Reinforcement Project near Ottawa, which is expected to be in service by 2029. Taylor said Hydro One expects to file its 2028-2032 joint rate application in October. While he did not provide details ahead of the filing, he said the proposal would address reliability, resilience, electrification and Ontario’s economic growth while seeking to mitigate customer bill impacts. Management said customer engagement related to the application had been completed and had generated strong support for the proposals. At the same time, Telford and Taylor acknowledged broader affordability pressures affecting Ontario residents and businesses. The company continues to expect annual earnings-per-share growth of 6% to 8% during the current rate period, using normalized 2022 EPS of C$1.61 as the base. Hydro One’s board declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.3531 per share, payable to shareholders of record on Sept. 9, 2026. Hydro One also said Ontario’s active wildfire season had not had a major operational impact and that no fires had been attributed to its assets or infrastructure. The company said wildfire-related restoration spending would generally be added to rate base in the same manner as normal storm-restoration work, though management said current conditions were not close to meeting the criteria for a Z-factor regulatory filing. Hydro One operates regulated transmission and distribution assets in Ontario. The area's largest electricity provider serves nearly 1.5 million customers. Transmission accounts for roughly 60% of the company's rate base, with distribution accounting for the remainder. Hydro One operates a small telecom business, Acronym Solutions, with annual revenue contributing less than 1% to consolidated results. The province of Ontario holds an approximate 47% common equity stake. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Hydro One Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Megan Telford assumes role as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hydro One, building on Hydro One's foundation to power Ontario's growth and delivering long-term value TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2026 /CNW/ -- Hydro One Limited (Hydro One or the Company) today announced its financial and operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. Second Quarter Highlights Second quarter basic earnings per share (EPS) of $0.62 compares to EPS of $0.54 for the same period in 2025. The change in EPS year-over-year was largely due to increased revenues from Ontario Energy Board (OEB)-approved rates and higher peak demand, partially offset by higher financing charges and higher operation, maintenance and administration (OM&A) costs. Megan Telford assumed the role of President and CEO of Hydro One following David Lebeter's retirement on June 9, 2026. Hydro One was selected to develop and construct the Red Lake Transmission Line. Hydro One filed leave-to-construct applications with the OEB for three transmission line projects that included the Northeast Power Line, the Longwood to Lakeshore Transmission Line and the Durham Kawartha Power Line. The Company also filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for the Orléans Area Reinforcement Project. Hydro One successfully executed its inaugural US$1.0 billion debt offering in the United States, marking an important milestone in diversifying its sources of capital and enhancing financial flexibility. Hydro One was included in Time Magazine and Statista's Canada's Best Companies for 2026. Hydro One was recognized as one of Canada's Best Employers for Company Culture by Forbes. The Company was also named among the 50 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada by Corporate Knights. The Company's capital investments and in-service additions for the quarter were $812 million and $644 million, respectively, compared to $913 million and $591 million in the second quarter of 2025. A quarterly dividend of $0.3531 per share was declared, payable on September 29, 2026. "Ontario is growing and Hydro One is helping power that future," said Megan Telford, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hydro One. "We have a strong track record of delivering the infrastructure the province needs to help build a more reliable and resilient electricity system. Together with Indigenous communities, governments and industry partners, we are supporting economic growth, creating opportunities for Canadian suppliers and delivering long-term value for customers, communities and shareholders." Selected Consolidated Financial and Operating Highlights Key Financial Highlights 2026 Second Quarter Highlights The Company reported net income attributable to common shareholders of $370 million during the quarter, compared to $327 million in the same period of 2025. This resulted in EPS of $0.62, compared to EPS of $0.54 during the same period in the prior year. Revenues of $2,302 million for the second quarter were $236 million higher than revenues for the second quarter of 2025. Revenues, net of purchased power[1] of $1,231 million for the second quarter were $64 million higher than revenues, net of purchased power1 for the second quarter of 2025. The increase is mainly attributable to higher revenues resulting from OEB-approved 2026 rates as well as higher average monthly peak demand. OM&A costs in the second quarter of 2026 were higher than the prior year, mainly attributable to higher work program expenditures, including emergency power restoration and lines maintenance work. Depreciation, amortization and asset removal costs for the second quarter of 2026 were lower than the prior year mainly due to lower asset removal costs resulting from lower volume of storm restoration activities compared to last year, partially offset by higher depreciation expense due to growth in capital assets as the Company continues to place new assets in-service. Financing charges in the second quarter of 2026 were higher than the prior year primarily due to an increase in outstanding long-term debt, partially offset by higher capitalized interest. Income tax expense for the second quarter of 2026 was higher than the prior year primarily due to higher pre-tax earnings, partially offset by higher deductible timing differences. Hydro One continues to invest in the reliability and performance of Ontario's electricity transmission and distribution systems by addressing aging power system infrastructure, facilitating connectivity to new load customers and generation sources, and improving service to customers. The Company made capital investments of $812 million during the second quarter of 2026 and placed $644 million of new assets in-service. Selected Operating Highlights Hydro One was selected to develop and construct the Red Lake Transmission Line in northwestern Ontario, north of Dryden. The proposed priority project consists of a new double-circuit 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission line that will run from Dryden Transformer Station north to the Ear Falls Transformer Station, including associated station facilities and will continue on to connect to the Red Lake Switching Station. The project is expected to be in service by the early 2030s. Hydro One filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for Northeast Power Line, a single-circuit 500-kV transmission line connecting the Greater Sudbury area to the Wharncliffe area. This critical infrastructure is expected to reinforce the transmission system's transfer capability between northeast and northwest Ontario by approximately 900 megawatts (MW). Construction of the approximately $1.9-billion transmission line is planned to be completed in 2029. Hydro One filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for the Longwood to Lakeshore Transmission Line, a single-circuit 500-kV transmission line connecting the Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc and the Municipality of Lakeshore. The approximately $1.2-billion investment is anticipated to bring about 550 MW of electricity to the region, to support local jobs and the agri-business and manufacturing sectors in southwestern Ontario. The project is expected to be completed in 2030. Hydro One filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for the Durham Kawartha Power Line, a double-circuit 230-kV transmission line connecting the Municipality of Clarington and Peterborough County. The approximately $430 million investment is expected to create jobs during construction and, once complete, will increase the overall transfer capability of the transmission system, support growth and deliver reliable power to communities across Peterborough, Quinte West and into the Ottawa region. The line is expected to be in service in 2029. Hydro One filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for the Orléans Area Reinforcement Project in the Greater Ottawa Area. The project includes a new 115-kV transmission line and the conversion of an existing 115-kV line to 230-kV. With an investment of approximately $100 million, the project will increase regional capacity, improve transfer capability and strengthen reliability. The project is expected to be in service by 2029. Hydro One's wholly owned subsidiary, Hydro One Inc. completed an offering of US$1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 4.75% (CAD fixed equivalent 3.835%) senior notes due May 30, 2031. The net proceeds from the issuance of the Notes will be used to repay certain maturing long-term debt and certain short-term indebtedness (including commercial paper) and for other general corporate purposes. Common Share Dividends On August 11, 2026, the Company declared a quarterly cash dividend to common shareholders of $0.3531 per share to be paid on September 29, 2026 to shareholders of record on September 9, 2026. Supplemental Segment Information This press release should be read in conjunction with the Company's second quarter 2026 unaudited condensed interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis (MD&A). These financial statements and MD&A together with additional information about Hydro One, including the audited consolidated financial statements and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2025 can be accessed at www.HydroOne.com/Investors and www.sedarplus.com. Quarterly Investment Community Teleconference The Company's second quarter 2026 results teleconference with the investment community will be held on August 12, 2026 at 8 a.m. ET, a webcast of which will be available at www.HydroOne.com/Investors. Members of the financial community wishing to ask questions during the call should go to this link (https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIff76de9cbaef416db0112e81e5fba69b) prior to the scheduled start time to access Hydro One's second quarter 2026 results call. Media and other interested parties are welcome to participate on a listen-only basis. A webcast of the teleconference will be available at the same link following the call. Additionally, investors should note that, from time to time Hydro One management presents at brokerage sponsored investor conferences. Most often, but not always, these conferences are webcast by the hosting brokerage firm, and when they are webcast, links are made available on Hydro One's website at www.HydroOne.com/Investors and are posted generally at least two days before the conference. Hydro One Limited (TSX: H) Hydro One Limited, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is Ontario's largest electricity transmission and distribution provider with 1.5 million valued customers, $39.7 billion in assets as at December 31, 2025, and annual revenues in 2025 of $9 billion. Our team of 9,600 skilled and dedicated employees proudly build and maintain a safe and reliable electricity system which is essential to supporting strong and successful communities. In 2025, Hydro One invested $3.4 billion in its transmission and distribution networks, and supported the economy through buying $3.0 billion of goods and services. We are committed to the communities where we live and work through community investment, sustainability and diversity initiatives. Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on the TSX and certain of Hydro One Inc.'s medium term notes are listed on the NYSE. Additional information can be accessed at www.HydroOne.com, www.sedarplus.com or www.sec.gov. For More Information For more information about everything Hydro One, please visit www.HydroOne.com where you can find additional information including links to securities filings, historical financial reports, and information about the Company's governance practices, corporate social responsibility, customer solutions, and further information about its business. Non-GAAP Financial Measures Hydro One uses a number of financial measures to assess its performance. The Company presents revenues, net of purchased power to reflect revenues net of the cost of purchased power, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. Since these specified financial measures and financial ratios may not have a standardized meaning within U.S. GAAP, results may not be comparable to similar financial measures and financial ratios presented by other entities. They should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company's financial information reported under U.S. GAAP. Revenues, Net of Purchased Power Revenues, net of purchased power is defined as revenues less the cost of purchased power; distribution revenues, net of purchased power, is defined as distribution revenues less the cost of purchased power. These measures are used internally by management to assess the impacts of revenue on net income and are considered useful because it excludes the cost of power that is fully recovered through revenues and therefore net income neutral. The following table provides a reconciliation of GAAP (reported) revenues to non-GAAP (adjusted) revenues, net of purchased power on a consolidated basis. Forward-Looking Statements and Information This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Statements containing forward-looking information are made pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Such information includes, but is not limited to, statements related to: the Company's strategic goals, creating opportunities for Canadian suppliers and delivering long-term value for customers, communities and stakeholders; the Company's plans to invest in reliability and performance of Ontario's electricity transmission and distribution systems and networks, including addressing aging power infrastructure, facilitating connectivity to new load customers and generation sources, and improving service to customers; expectations regarding community, sustainability and diversity commitments; expectations regarding the use of proceeds from the issuance of Notes; the Company's ongoing and planned projects (including construction of transmission stations and lines) and expected capital investments and plans, including anticipated outcomes, impacts, potential job creation, increased transfer capacities, and in-service and completion dates; and payment of dividends. Words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "attempt," "may," "plan," "will," "can," "believe," "seek," "estimate," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking information. In particular, the forward-looking information contained in this press release is based on a variety of factors and assumptions including, but not limited to: no unforeseen changes in the legislative and operating framework for Ontario's electricity market or for Hydro One specifically; favourable decisions from the OEB and other regulatory bodies concerning outstanding and future rate and other applications; no unexpected delays in obtaining required approvals; no unforeseen changes in rate orders or rate setting methodologies for Hydro One's distribution and transmission businesses; the continued use and availability of U.S. GAAP; no unfavourable changes in environmental regulation; a stable regulatory environment; no significant changes to Hydro One's current credit ratings; no unforeseen impacts of new accounting pronouncements; no changes to expectations regarding electricity consumption; no unforeseen changes to economic and market conditions; completion of operating and capital projects that have been deferred; and no significant event occurring outside the ordinary course of business. We caution that all forward-looking information is inherently subject to change and uncertainty and that actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. A number of risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information or could cause our current objectives, strategies and intentions to change, and many of these factors are beyond our control and current expectation or knowledge. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or actions and involve assumptions and risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking information. Some of the factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed, implied or forecasted by such forward-looking information, including some of the assumptions used in making such statements, are discussed more fully in Hydro One's filings with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. Hydro One does not intend, and it disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking information, except as required by law. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hydro-one-reports-second-quarter-results-302849606.html

Megan Telford assumes role as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hydro One, building on Hydro One's foundation to power Ontario's growth and delivering long-term value TORONTO, Aug. 12, 2026 /CNW/ -- Hydro One Limited (Hydro One or the Company) today announced its financial and operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. Second Quarter Highlights Second quarter basic earnings per share (EPS) of $0.62 compares to EPS of $0.54 for the same period in 2025. The change in EPS year-over-year was largely due to increased revenues from Ontario Energy Board (OEB)-approved rates and higher peak demand, partially offset by higher financing charges and higher operation, maintenance and administration (OM&A) costs. Megan Telford assumed the role of President and CEO of Hydro One following David Lebeter's retirement on June 9, 2026. Hydro One was selected to develop and construct the Red Lake Transmission Line. Hydro One filed leave-to-construct applications with the OEB for three transmission line projects that included the Northeast Power Line, the Longwood to Lakeshore Transmission Line and the Durham Kawartha Power Line. The Company also filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for the Orléans Area Reinforcement Project. Hydro One successfully executed its inaugural US$1.0 billion debt offering in the United States, marking an important milestone in diversifying its sources of capital and enhancing financial flexibility. Hydro One was included in Time Magazine and Statista's Canada's Best Companies for 2026. Hydro One was recognized as one of Canada's Best Employers for Company Culture by Forbes. The Company was also named among the 50 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada by Corporate Knights. The Company's capital investments and in-service additions for the quarter were $812 million and $644 million, respectively, compared to $913 million and $591 million in the second quarter of 2025. A quarterly dividend of $0.3531 per share was declared, payable on September 29, 2026. "Ontario is growing and Hydro One is helping power that future," said Megan Telford, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hydro One. "We have a strong track record of delivering the infrastructure the province needs to help build a more reliable and resilient electricity system. Together with Indigenous communities, governments and industry partners, we are supporting economic growth, creating opportunities for Canadian suppliers and delivering long-term value for customers, communities and shareholders." Selected Consolidated Financial and Operating Highlights Key Financial Highlights 2026 Second Quarter Highlights The Company reported net income attributable to common shareholders of $370 million during the quarter, compared to $327 million in the same period of 2025. This resulted in EPS of $0.62, compared to EPS of $0.54 during the same period in the prior year. Revenues of $2,302 million for the second quarter were $236 million higher than revenues for the second quarter of 2025. Revenues, net of purchased power[1] of $1,231 million for the second quarter were $64 million higher than revenues, net of purchased power1 for the second quarter of 2025. The increase is mainly attributable to higher revenues resulting from OEB-approved 2026 rates as well as higher average monthly peak demand. OM&A costs in the second quarter of 2026 were higher than the prior year, mainly attributable to higher work program expenditures, including emergency power restoration and lines maintenance work. Depreciation, amortization and asset removal costs for the second quarter of 2026 were lower than the prior year mainly due to lower asset removal costs resulting from lower volume of storm restoration activities compared to last year, partially offset by higher depreciation expense due to growth in capital assets as the Company continues to place new assets in-service. Financing charges in the second quarter of 2026 were higher than the prior year primarily due to an increase in outstanding long-term debt, partially offset by higher capitalized interest. Income tax expense for the second quarter of 2026 was higher than the prior year primarily due to higher pre-tax earnings, partially offset by higher deductible timing differences. Hydro One continues to invest in the reliability and performance of Ontario's electricity transmission and distribution systems by addressing aging power system infrastructure, facilitating connectivity to new load customers and generation sources, and improving service to customers. The Company made capital investments of $812 million during the second quarter of 2026 and placed $644 million of new assets in-service. Selected Operating Highlights Hydro One was selected to develop and construct the Red Lake Transmission Line in northwestern Ontario, north of Dryden. The proposed priority project consists of a new double-circuit 230-kilovolt (kV) transmission line that will run from Dryden Transformer Station north to the Ear Falls Transformer Station, including associated station facilities and will continue on to connect to the Red Lake Switching Station. The project is expected to be in service by the early 2030s. Hydro One filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for Northeast Power Line, a single-circuit 500-kV transmission line connecting the Greater Sudbury area to the Wharncliffe area. This critical infrastructure is expected to reinforce the transmission system's transfer capability between northeast and northwest Ontario by approximately 900 megawatts (MW). Construction of the approximately $1.9-billion transmission line is planned to be completed in 2029. Hydro One filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for the Longwood to Lakeshore Transmission Line, a single-circuit 500-kV transmission line connecting the Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc and the Municipality of Lakeshore. The approximately $1.2-billion investment is anticipated to bring about 550 MW of electricity to the region, to support local jobs and the agri-business and manufacturing sectors in southwestern Ontario. The project is expected to be completed in 2030. Hydro One filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for the Durham Kawartha Power Line, a double-circuit 230-kV transmission line connecting the Municipality of Clarington and Peterborough County. The approximately $430 million investment is expected to create jobs during construction and, once complete, will increase the overall transfer capability of the transmission system, support growth and deliver reliable power to communities across Peterborough, Quinte West and into the Ottawa region. The line is expected to be in service in 2029. Hydro One filed a leave-to-construct application with the OEB for the Orléans Area Reinforcement Project in the Greater Ottawa Area. The project includes a new 115-kV transmission line and the conversion of an existing 115-kV line to 230-kV. With an investment of approximately $100 million, the project will increase regional capacity, improve transfer capability and strengthen reliability. The project is expected to be in service by 2029. Hydro One's wholly owned subsidiary, Hydro One Inc. completed an offering of US$1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 4.75% (CAD fixed equivalent 3.835%) senior notes due May 30, 2031. The net proceeds from the issuance of the Notes will be used to repay certain maturing long-term debt and certain short-term indebtedness (including commercial paper) and for other general corporate purposes. Common Share Dividends On August 11, 2026, the Company declared a quarterly cash dividend to common shareholders of $0.3531 per share to be paid on September 29, 2026 to shareholders of record on September 9, 2026. Supplemental Segment Information This press release should be read in conjunction with the Company's second quarter 2026 unaudited condensed interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis (MD&A). These financial statements and MD&A together with additional information about Hydro One, including the audited consolidated financial statements and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2025 can be accessed at www.HydroOne.com/Investors and www.sedarplus.com. Quarterly Investment Community Teleconference The Company's second quarter 2026 results teleconference with the investment community will be held on August 12, 2026 at 8 a.m. ET, a webcast of which will be available at www.HydroOne.com/Investors. Members of the financial community wishing to ask questions during the call should go to this link (https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BIff76de9cbaef416db0112e81e5fba69b) prior to the scheduled start time to access Hydro One's second quarter 2026 results call. Media and other interested parties are welcome to participate on a listen-only basis. A webcast of the teleconference will be available at the same link following the call. Additionally, investors should note that, from time to time Hydro One management presents at brokerage sponsored investor conferences. Most often, but not always, these conferences are webcast by the hosting brokerage firm, and when they are webcast, links are made available on Hydro One's website at www.HydroOne.com/Investors and are posted generally at least two days before the conference. Hydro One Limited (TSX: H) Hydro One Limited, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is Ontario's largest electricity transmission and distribution provider with 1.5 million valued customers, $39.7 billion in assets as at December 31, 2025, and annual revenues in 2025 of $9 billion. Our team of 9,600 skilled and dedicated employees proudly build and maintain a safe and reliable electricity system which is essential to supporting strong and successful communities. In 2025, Hydro One invested $3.4 billion in its transmission and distribution networks, and supported the economy through buying $3.0 billion of goods and services. We are committed to the communities where we live and work through community investment, sustainability and diversity initiatives. Hydro One Limited's common shares are listed on the TSX and certain of Hydro One Inc.'s medium term notes are listed on the NYSE. Additional information can be accessed at www.HydroOne.com, www.sedarplus.com or www.sec.gov. For More Information For more information about everything Hydro One, please visit www.HydroOne.com where you can find additional information including links to securities filings, historical financial reports, and information about the Company's governance practices, corporate social responsibility, customer solutions, and further information about its business. Non-GAAP Financial Measures Hydro One uses a number of financial measures to assess its performance. The Company presents revenues, net of purchased power to reflect revenues net of the cost of purchased power, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. Since these specified financial measures and financial ratios may not have a standardized meaning within U.S. GAAP, results may not be comparable to similar financial measures and financial ratios presented by other entities. They should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company's financial information reported under U.S. GAAP. Revenues, Net of Purchased Power Revenues, net of purchased power is defined as revenues less the cost of purchased power; distribution revenues, net of purchased power, is defined as distribution revenues less the cost of purchased power. These measures are used internally by management to assess the impacts of revenue on net income and are considered useful because it excludes the cost of power that is fully recovered through revenues and therefore net income neutral. The following table provides a reconciliation of GAAP (reported) revenues to non-GAAP (adjusted) revenues, net of purchased power on a consolidated basis. Forward-Looking Statements and Information This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable U.S. securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Statements containing forward-looking information are made pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Such information includes, but is not limited to, statements related to: the Company's strategic goals, creating opportunities for Canadian suppliers and delivering long-term value for customers, communities and stakeholders; the Company's plans to invest in reliability and performance of Ontario's electricity transmission and distribution systems and networks, including addressing aging power infrastructure, facilitating connectivity to new load customers and generation sources, and improving service to customers; expectations regarding community, sustainability and diversity commitments; expectations regarding the use of proceeds from the issuance of Notes; the Company's ongoing and planned projects (including construction of transmission stations and lines) and expected capital investments and plans, including anticipated outcomes, impacts, potential job creation, increased transfer capacities, and in-service and completion dates; and payment of dividends. Words such as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "attempt," "may," "plan," "will," "can," "believe," "seek," "estimate," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking information. In particular, the forward-looking information contained in this press release is based on a variety of factors and assumptions including, but not limited to: no unforeseen changes in the legislative and operating framework for Ontario's electricity market or for Hydro One specifically; favourable decisions from the OEB and other regulatory bodies concerning outstanding and future rate and other applications; no unexpected delays in obtaining required approvals; no unforeseen changes in rate orders or rate setting methodologies for Hydro One's distribution and transmission businesses; the continued use and availability of U.S. GAAP; no unfavourable changes in environmental regulation; a stable regulatory environment; no significant changes to Hydro One's current credit ratings; no unforeseen impacts of new accounting pronouncements; no changes to expectations regarding electricity consumption; no unforeseen changes to economic and market conditions; completion of operating and capital projects that have been deferred; and no significant event occurring outside the ordinary course of business. We caution that all forward-looking information is inherently subject to change and uncertainty and that actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. A number of risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information or could cause our current objectives, strategies and intentions to change, and many of these factors are beyond our control and current expectation or knowledge. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or actions and involve assumptions and risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking information. Some of the factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from the results expressed, implied or forecasted by such forward-looking information, including some of the assumptions used in making such statements, are discussed more fully in Hydro One's filings with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com. Hydro One does not intend, and it disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking information, except as required by law. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hydro-one-reports-second-quarter-results-302849606.html View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2026/12/c6699.html

Interested in Intercontinental Hotels Group? Here are five stocks we like better. Strong first-half financial performance: Global RevPAR rose 4.1%, fee revenue increased 7%, operating profit grew 10%, and adjusted EPS climbed 13% to 274.7 cents. IHG raised its interim dividend 10% and expects to return more than $1.2 billion to shareholders in 2026. Americas led hotel demand growth: Americas RevPAR increased 4.8%, while EMEAA and Greater China grew 3% and 3.1%, respectively. Group travel was the strongest global demand segment, with revenue up 6%. Development activity reached record levels: IHG opened 197 hotels and signed 352 more in the first half, producing 5% net system growth. Its pipeline of 2,400 hotels represents potential future room growth of 33%, supported by continued momentum in markets including the U.S., China, India and Saudi Arabia. Hyatt Hotels Surges on the Leisure and Business Travel Boom Intercontinental Hotels Group (NYSE:IHG) said first-half 2026 performance was supported by broad-based revenue per available room growth, record development activity and expanding margins, while management expressed confidence in continued system growth despite uneven conditions in China and the Middle East. Chief Executive Officer Elie Maalouf said global RevPAR increased 4.1% in the first half, with gains across the company’s three regions, brands and customer segments. Gross system growth rose 6.5%, while net system growth reached 5%. Openings and signings each increased 8% year over year on an organic basis, according to the company. → SoundHound AI Sends a Loud Signal After Its Q2 Earnings Beat Airline and hotel stocks soar as Thanksgiving travel sets records IHG expanded its fee margin by 120 basis points, increased EBIT by 10% and grew adjusted earnings per share by 13%, aided by share repurchases. Maalouf said the results reflected the breadth of IHG’s geographic footprint, its portfolio of brands and its asset-light operating model. China remained a major focus of investor questions after RevPAR growth slowed from 5.7% in the first quarter to 0.8% in the second quarter. Maalouf said first-quarter travel was lifted by an extended Chinese New Year and newly introduced school holidays, which he said may have pulled some leisure and business travel forward from the second quarter. → 3 Dividend Champion Utilities for a Market That Can't Sit Still Checking In On Hotel Stocks: Room for Growth? For the first half, China RevPAR rose 3.1%. Tier 1 markets, including major cities as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan, and Tier 4 leisure and resort destinations performed well, Maalouf said. Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities experienced continued softness in business transient demand, though he described that trend as longstanding rather than new. Management said IHG’s China business continues to expand, reaching 900 open hotels and potentially 1,000 by the end of the year. The company has roughly 600 additional hotels under development in the country. Maalouf said China profit increased 25% year over year and that occupancy improved during the first half. → Take-Two’s Q1 Results Leave GTA 6 Bulls Stuck in the Fog of War “We do not see signs of oversupply,” Maalouf said, adding that new hotel supply was being absorbed within IHG’s system and that the business also achieved rate growth over the full half-year period. Addressing concerns about removals in lower-chain-scale brands in China, Maalouf said IHG has a directly controlled business in the country rather than operating through partners, joint ventures or master franchisees. He said the company maintains close owner relationships and is selective about deals, focusing on hotel quality, fees per key and expected owner economics. IHG does have removals in China, he said, but described them as largely related to normal estate renewal and some post-COVID properties no longer suited to the market. Chief Financial Officer Michael Glover said the gap between system growth and fee revenue growth principally reflects the company’s high level of openings. Newly opened hotels generally require time to reach stabilized occupancy, room rates and hotel revenues, while many contracts include fee structures that increase over the first several years of operation. Glover said the fee-growth “triangulation” improved by about 40 basis points at the group level year over year in the first half. In the U.S., the improvement was 110 basis points. Management expects the gap to continue narrowing as hotels mature, though Maalouf said there would continue to be some lag as long as IHG maintains a high pace of openings. Glover said consensus expectations for 4.7% net unit growth were “in and about the right place,” while noting the company delivered 5% in the first half and sees opportunity to exceed the consensus figure. The company said it has limited exposure to Revo, a German hotel operator that entered bankruptcy, with six hotels and 820 rooms associated with the operator. Management also said it sees continued potential for fee-margin expansion. Glover said IHG could continue delivering 100 to 150 basis points of margin improvement over the medium to long term as system revenue expands faster than costs. Maalouf said IHG has taken several steps since 2024 to support hotel owner economics, including lowering loyalty assessments, raising reward-night reimbursement rates and reducing the cost of its IHG Ignite marketing program. He also cited lower food-and-beverage program costs, reduced costs for new-build prototypes and conversion packages, and expanded procurement offerings. The company is rolling out a redesigned commercial services program in the Americas. The program, which provides services including field marketing, digital and web support, training and group business assistance, is in place at about 500 hotels. Maalouf said it is expected to expand across the region and will lower costs for 75% of participating hotels. Management said the cost reductions are being generated within the system fund rather than through IHG’s own profit and loss account. Maalouf said the company is using the scale of its system, technology and process improvements to create efficiencies that it can share with owners. Artificial intelligence is being applied in guest acquisition, hotel performance and corporate efficiency, Maalouf said. He cited AI-enabled marketing, revenue management, customer relationship management, content management and conversational trip-planning tools. However, he said it was too early to quantify potential hotel cost savings from AI because operational conditions vary by region, brand and jurisdiction. Glover said global business demand increased 2% in the first half, leisure demand rose 3% and group demand grew 6%. In the U.S., business increased 3%, leisure was up 4% and groups advanced 10%. He said the World Cup contributed about 100 basis points to U.S. second-quarter performance and is expected to represent roughly 40 basis points for the full year, but management did not view the event as the fundamental driver of results. Maalouf said the Middle East has been recovering gradually since conflict conditions peaked in March and April. He said IHG expects to offset any impact from the region through the remainder of the year if current conditions persist, while noting that the company’s regional pipeline is concentrated in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey. IHG is also building its branded residences business. Glover said the company has 35 hotels or branded residences open and selling across 19 countries. The business generated approximately $5 million to $10 million in the prior year, and management said it could become a substantially larger fee stream from 2027 and beyond as projects currently under construction enter sales phases. On capital deployment, Glover said key money was slightly lower in the first half but that IHG continues to expect key money and maintenance capital spending of $200 million to $250 million. Maalouf said the company is not seeing meaningful key-money requirements for its Garner conversion brand, except in select high-barrier-to-entry or high-RevPAR locations. IHG said its next market update will be its third-quarter trading statement on Oct. 22. Intercontinental Hotels Group plc (IHG) is a multinational hospitality company that develops, owns, manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels and resorts. The company operates across full-service luxury and upscale segments as well as midscale and extended-stay categories, providing lodging, food and beverage, meeting and event services, and related guest amenities. IHG's business model emphasizes brand franchising and management agreements, while retaining ownership or direct investments in a smaller portion of its global property portfolio. IHG's brand portfolio spans global and regional names designed to serve different traveler needs and market segments. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Intercontinental Hotels Group H1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, July 30, 2026 at 10 a.m. ET Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy - Ryan Nuckols Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer - Mark Hoplamazian Chief Financial Officer - Joan Bottarini Operator: Good morning, and welcome to Hyatt's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number 1. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 again. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Ryan Nuckols, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy. Please go ahead. Ryan Nuckols: Thank you, and welcome to Hyatt's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Joining me on today's call are Mark Hoplamazian, Hyatt's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer and Joan Bottarini, Hyatt's chief financial officer. Before we start, I would like to remind everyone that our comments today will include forward-looking statements under federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties as described in our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other SEC filings. These risks could cause our actual results to be materially different from those expressed in or implied by our comments. Forward looking statements in the earnings release that we issued today along with the comments on this call, are made only as of today and will not be updated as actual events unfold. In addition, you can find a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures referred to in today's remarks under the Financials section of our Investor Relations website in this morning's earnings release. An archive of this call will be available on our website for 90 days. Additionally, we post an investor presentation on our Investor Relations website this morning containing supplemental information. Please note that if not otherwise stated, references to occupancy, average daily rate, and RevPAR, reflects comparable system-wide hotels on a constant-currency basis. And closed hotels in Jamaica are excluded from comparable metrics in 2026. Percentage changes disclosed during the call are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted. With that, I will turn the call over to Mark. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Thank you, Ryan, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you joining us today. Before I begin, I would like to once again thank everyone who joined us at our recent Investor Day. Both in person and virtually. We appreciated the strong engagement throughout the event. And the thoughtful conversations we have had with many of you since then. it has been encouraging to hear the positive feedback on our strategy, and the long-term opportunities that we outlined. As we showcased at Investor Day, Hyatt has evolved into a more asset-light company with a differentiated operating model built around premium brands, a growing commercial platform, and disciplined capital allocation. Our objective is clear. To sustain a business model capable of delivering durable fee growth, increasing cash flow, and attractive long-term returns, over a wide range of operating environments. Our second quarter results provide another example of that model in action. Despite meaningful regional headwinds in parts of our portfolio, we delivered strong RevPAR, fee, and adjusted EBITDA growth. Expanded World of Hyatt membership, and increased our development pipeline to record levels. These results demonstrate the growing strength of Hyatt's commercial platform the increasing preference for our brands among guests, owners, and developers, and the benefits of a business model where quality, growth translates into higher fee earnings, and free cash flow. Turning to our operating results. This morning, we reported second quarter system-wide RevPAR growth of 5.9%, exceeding our expectations. Performance was driven by durable demand from high-end travelers, and continued strength across our luxury portfolio. With some benefit from the FIFA World Cup. RevPAR growth in the United States exceeded our expectations and we also saw a strong growth across most international markets. RevPAR was up in all customer segments. Business and group travel was solid, with business transient RevPAR increasing approximately 2% during the quarter, and group RevPAR increasing more than 7% compared to last year. FIFA World Cup host cities delivered group RevPAR growth of more than 13% in June. Leisure demand from premium travelers remained exceptionally strong during the quarter, with leisure transient RevPAR increasing approximately 7% compared to last year. Once again, led by our luxury brands. As one example, FIFA World Cup host cities in the United States generated leisure transient RevPAR growth of more than 17% in June. Our performance reflects much more than favorable industry trends. Our brand led strategy continues to differentiate Hyatt and we are gaining market share across our portfolio. During the first half of the year, our luxury and lifestyle portfolios increased RevPAR index by nearly 3 points with a large proportion of our hotels gaining share. This reflects growing preference for our brands, the strength of our commercial platform, and the impact of our brand focused approach. A significant contributor to that growing preference is World of Hyatt, which ended the quarter with approximately 69 million members, an increase of 17% from a year ago. As World of Hyatt membership and engagement grows, we are continuing to enhance the value of the program. One recent example is our collaboration with Air Canada, which brings 2 highly engaged loyalty programs together, and gives members more ways to earn and redeem rewards while expanding the experiences available across both networks. World of Hyatt sits at the center of our network effect. Creating more value for guests, owners, and developers as our system grows. Every new hotel we add expands opportunities for our members. While every new member strengthens the value of our commercial platform. The lasting benefits we create by driving quality growth fuels more direct channel demand, stronger owner returns, and durable fee growth. Development activity remained very strong during the quarter, We ended the quarter with a record development pipeline of approximately 154,000 rooms. up 10% from a year ago. The breadth of our pipeline reflects growing owner preference for Hyatt, Our luxury lifestyle and inclusive collection brands continue to generate strong owner interest, while our essentials brands are building momentum and creating meaningful opportunities to expand Hyatt's brand footprint in markets where we have significant white space. The Hyatt Select brand is a great example of that momentum. During the quarter, in addition to strong signings in the United States, we signed a master franchise agreement with the Dossen Group to bring the Hyatt Select brand to Chinese Mainland. This collaboration combines Hyatt's global brand recognition and the local market expertise and development capabilities of Dossen Group. one of the region's leading hotel operators providing a strong platform to thoughtfully scale the Hyatt Select brand in an important long-term growth market. We delivered net rooms growth of 4.4% for the second quarter excluding rooms from the Playa Hotels acquisition that were removed from Hyatt's room count in the second half of 2025. Among our notable openings this past quarter were Miraval the Red Sea, our first Miraval property outside of the United States, and The Barai, part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, our first property in the Unbound Collection by Hyatt in Thailand. Both of these openings expand our brand presence in the luxury wellness segment while bringing 2 distinctive experiences to World of Hyatt members in sought after destinations. Miraval the Red Sea is the first of a number of important openings planned in Saudi Arabia over the next several years. Development pipeline remains very healthy, and we expect net rooms growth to accelerate significantly over the second half of the year. With a large number of our expected openings scheduled for the fourth quarter. We continue to see meaningful opportunities from both conversions and new build openings. We have adjusted our full year outlook range to reflect the large number of fourth quarter openings, some of which could slip into 2027. I want to be clear. Our confidence in delivering on the strong organic growth we outlined in our Investor Day presentation remains very high. Now turning to transactions, we continue to make progress on the planned sale of the Hyatt Grand Central New York. However, based on our current expectations, we no longer expect the transaction to close in 2026. We will continue to provide updates on this transaction as we reach key milestones. More broadly, we remain active in the market and are in discussions regarding the sale of certain assets to unlock additional value from our owned portfolio. Disciplined approach remains consistent with our track record of pursuing transactions that achieve attractive values, while ensuring our hotels remain in the Hyatt system under long-term management or franchise agreements, supporting continued fee growth and shareholder value. Looking ahead, we remain confident in Hyatt's long-term positioning. As we highlighted during Investor Day, we have transformed Hyatt into a more durable asset-light business. That generates increasing free cash flow as our system grows, and cash conversion improves. Allowing us to continue to invest in the areas of the business that matter most to our guests, owners, and shareholders. Our strategy is producing tangible results. We have led the industry in net rooms growth for the past nine years. Delivered industry leading RevPAR growth over the past five years, And today, generate the highest fees per room among our largest peers. Together, these drivers have created a powerful compounding effect on fee growth. Importantly, achieving that growth requires only modest incremental capital allowing us to reinvest in our brands, commercial platform, and future growth. While continuing to generate increasing levels of free cash flow. We also believe the opportunity ahead remains significant. We have built a differentiated portfolio of brands serving high-end travelers, developed one of the industry's most attractive and fastest growing loyalty programs, and continue to see substantial opportunities to expand our brands in markets where Hyatt has meaningful white space. Together, we believe these advantages position Hyatt to deliver durable long-term growth and consistently create value for shareholders. I would like to close my comments by thanking our Hyatt colleagues around the world who bring our purpose of care to life every day. Their commitment to our guests, owners, and one another is what truly differentiates Hyatt. And gives me great confidence in our future. I will now turn the call over to Joan to provide more details on the quarter. Joan, over to you. Joan Bottarini: Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. During the second quarter, RevPAR exceeded our expectations, increasing 5.9% compared to last year, driven by resilient travel demand from premium travelers and incremental demand from the FIFA World Cup. In the United States, RevPAR increased a very strong 6.7% compared to last year. Driven by robust leisure travel along with healthy group demand. The FIFA World Cup contributed approximately 70 basis points of RevPAR growth. With host cities delivering double-digit growth during the second half of June. Our select service hotels also performed well, with RevPAR increasing 3.5% driven by improving business transient demand and easier comparisons to last year. Outside of the United States, RevPAR increased nearly 5%. and up 7.5% excluding the Middle East. This strong growth reflects robust international travel demand and continued strength in higher end travel. RevPAR in the Americas, excluding the United States, increased 9.5% benefiting from strong regional performance and international demand from the FIFA World Cup. Greater China RevPAR increased an impressive 7.2% compared to last year, supported by leisure transient demand, and strong average rate growth across our largest markets. Asia Pacific, excluding Greater China, delivered robust RevPAR growth of more than 10%, reflecting strong inbound travel and demand in key markets where we have strong brand representation. Europe generated RevPAR growth of 4.5% as healthy domestic leisure demand offset softer inbound travel from the Middle East. RevPAR in the Middle East declined by 36% compared to last year, due to the ongoing conflict in the region. Net package RevPAR in our all-inclusive portfolio declined 1.2% compared to last year, as the security incident in Mexico earlier this year and lower flight capacity had an impact on second quarter demand. Net package RevPAR for our hotels in the Dominican Republic was up over 8% underscoring the strength of the high-end leisure guests in a stable operating environment. Our all-inclusive resorts expanded market share, reflecting the strength of our brands and power of our commercial platform. Overall, our second quarter results reflect continued strength in premium leisure travel globally and healthy corporate travel demand. Turning to our financial results. Our core fee business continued to perform well, supported by strong top-line performance, healthy hotel level profitability, increasing scale, and the quality of our portfolio. Gross fees increased 8% to $324 million, driven by strong performance across our managed portfolio, fees from newly opened hotels, the new management agreements from the Playa portfolio, and growth in license fees. In the second quarter, owned and leased segment adjusted EBITDA increased by 16%, adjusted for the impact of asset sales reflecting the performance from the high-end positioning of our remaining owned and leased hotels. Distribution segment adjusted EBITDA declined compared to the prior year, in line with our expectations, due to temporary factors including hotel closures in Jamaica, following Hurricane Melissa and softer demand in Mexico. Results were also impacted by lower demand for 4-star properties. And we continue to expect it will take time for demand to return to previous levels as flight capacity increases and travel spending improves among this consumer segment. Travel volumes into the Dominican Republic were up 7% for our distribution segment, reflecting continued strength and demand for this destination. Overall, our second quarter adjusted EBITDA reflects the strength of our core fee business and was up approximately 9% year-over-year after adjusting for asset sales. As of June 30, we had total liquidity of approximately $2.1 billion, including $1.5 billion of available capacity on our revolving credit facility. Year-to-date, we have returned approximately $175 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends, and during the second quarter returned approximately $26 million. We ended the quarter with approximately $$1.5 billion remaining under our share repurchase authorization. We remain committed to our investment grade profile, and our balance sheet remains strong. Looking ahead to the second half of 2026, while travel demand continues to vary across regions, we remain confident in our outlook for the year supported by the strength of our brands. As we shared last quarter, we continue to expect hotel revenues in the Middle East to remain significantly below last year which we estimate will reduce full year fees by approximately $10 million. In Mexico, booking trends at our all-inclusive resorts are improving sequentially, but have not yet recovered to the extent we expected. Resulting in an approximately $15 million impact to fees compared to our prior outlook. While we continue to expect positive full year net package RevPAR growth in the Americas, We now expect third quarter net package RevPAR to be moderately below last year. Despite these temporary regional headwinds, we are increasingly encouraged by the strength of our core fee business. In the United States, the FIFA World Cup provided a meaningful benefit during the second quarter and forward-looking trends remained strong for the balance of 2026. With group pace for our US full-service hotels up in the mid-single digits for the remainder of the year. We are also seeing improving trends in our select service portfolio as we lap easier comparisons. Outside of the United States, we expect performance in Asia Pacific to be strong through the balance of 2026. Reflecting these trends, we are increasing our full year system-wide RevPAR growth outlook to between 3.5% and 4.5%. We now expect full year RevPAR growth in the United States of between 3% and 4%. We expect RevPAR growth in international markets, excluding the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, to be slightly higher than the United States for the full year. We expect net rooms growth of approximately 6% for the full year. With momentum in conversions, including in our new brands, driving another year of strong organic growth. As Mark mentioned earlier, we expect the fourth quarter to account for over half of our openings for the year. And we remain confident in our ability to meet the long-term growth expectations that we laid out at our most recent Investor Day. We are maintaining our gross fees outlook for the full year and expect fees to grow between 9% and 11% in the range of $1.305 billion to $1.335 billion reflecting continued growth across our asset-light platform. Despite temporary hotel closures in Jamaica and softer performance in Mexico and the Middle East. We are maintaining our full year adjusted EBITDA outlook and continue to expect adjusted EBITDA grow at a strong rate of 13% to 18% in the range of $1.155 billion to $1.205 billion. This outlook reflects an approximately $25 million year-over-year decline in our Distribution segment for the full year compared to 2025. We are maintaining our adjusted free cash flow outlook for the full year in the range of $580 million to $630 million, representing an increase of between 20% and 30%. This reflects the conversion of adjusted EBITDA to adjusted free cash flow of at least 50% for the full year. Finally, we expect to return between $325 million and $375 million of capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends during 2026. For the third quarter, we expect global RevPAR growth towards the low end of our full year outlook range. We expect net package RevPAR to be moderately below last year. Gross fees are expected to grow in the high-single-digit range compared to the third quarter of 2025. As a reminder, this growth is after adjusting for the $30 million from owned assets sold in 2025 and the $13 million of pro rata JV EBITDA removed under our updated definition. These adjustments are outlined on page A-9 in this morning's earnings release. In closing, our second quarter results reflect the continued strength of Hyatt's asset-light earnings model, As we highlighted during Investor Day, our strategy is designed to generate high quality, durable fee growth, and increasing cash flow over time. And this quarter's results are another demonstration of the successful execution of our strategy. As our system expands, and our brands continue to outperform, we believe we remain well positioned to generate durable fee growth, strong free cash flow, and long-term value for our shareholders. This concludes our prepared remarks, and we are now happy to answer your questions. Operator: At this time, The first question comes from Ben Chaiken with Mizuho. Please go ahead. Ben Chaiken: Would love to just revisit the net rooms growth adjustment, The prepared remarks were very helpful. Is the idea that, Just so I understand perfectly kind of where you are coming from, is the idea that some of the expected rooms in 2026 flipped into 27 or rather given the magnitude of the openings you see in Q4 and how that could be a swing factor you are proactively assuming some move to 2027 out of conservatism? Mark S. Hoplamazian: Thanks, Ben. Let me provide some context, and then I will answer the question very specifically. First of all, I think it is really important to put into context the first couple of quarters of this year. In fact, the first half of this year relative to what were very, very significant growth periods a year ago. Secondly, we had some rooms that came out of the system about, I would say, between the Playa adjustments, which were hotels that we actually acquired but the rooms did not become part of the Hyatt system, but we were reflected in the rooms that we owned. And some turnover in the UrCove portfolio and losses two losses in the Lindner portfolio. That those three factors were a drag in this particular quarter. But when you look at a two-year stack, which is a much, I think, healthier way to look at these things because really, what I think people should be focused on is are the implications for fee growth? We have had very strong fee growth this year. We will continue to have very strong fee growth in the high single digits as Joan mentioned. Or low double-digits. And that will continue to increase into next year. Because of ramp up and so forth and so on. But our two-year stack of net rooms growth in the first quarter and the second quarter of this year were is 16%. So 16% growth in net rooms from first quarter and the second quarter of 24 to the first quarter and second quarter of 26. Secondly, as we said in our Investor Day, our organic growth compounded over the last eight years has been 7%. And that is organic. Total was over 9%. And the pipeline in the first quarter was up over 9%, 10% in the second quarter. So you put all these factors together, and we are set up for persistent significant net rooms growth. With respect to this year, we have seen two things. 1, in the year for the year conversions, especially in the context of two new brands that we launched, Select and Unscripted. In some cases, the PIPs were turned out to be heavier than we initially had modeled. And the timing for the PIP completion has extended. And so we have seen slippage from Q2 to Q3 and Q3 to Q4 already. And secondly, about 50% of our pipeline openings are in the fourth quarter, and the majority of those, over 60%, are luxury lifestyle, and full-service hotels, which inherently are more complicated to forecast. There are many more permits and facilities that need to be prepped and certificated for opening. And therefore, we are looking at a heavy concentration in the fourth quarter and you know, we are we are ourselves saying, okay. So we are taking a Some of these may very well slip into the first quarter. I would say, a proactively conservative estimate on how the year will actually shape out. The key from my perspective is not the hyper-focus on one quarter to the next? Because first of all, the net rooms growth figure is not what I think is going to drive value. it is net fee growth. And so the fee growth algorithm is what drives value. You cannot take net rooms growth to the bank. What we are set up for is significant persistent compounding fee growth in the upper single digits. As we look forward in time. And our growth how do I know that? Because the pipeline growth is actually in that same range. The final thing I will say about our confidence about the algorithm that we put into place or that comes we shared during Investor Day is between the very high demand that we see in the marketplace with respect to new signings, In addition to that, we put into place a financing vehicle with a third party, HALL Structured Finance, a $500 million facility. And we have a dozen, sorry, about a dozen of our already signed Hyatt Studios deals that are going through the approval processes or going through the negotiation process for financing to get those hotels underway. We already have a number of hotels that are under construction and a number that are opened. Trending very well, but we want to accelerate that provided some credit support in that in that facility. So between the core demand that we are seeing for the brands and our pipeline growth and actually trying to address one of the key needs that we see in our owner community, which is financing for construction. We really feel confident that the 6% to 8% range that we gave during Investor Day is going to be realized. Very thorough and helpful answer. Appreciate it. Thanks. Hey. Thanks, Ben. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Bellisario with Baird. Please go ahead. Michael Bellisario: Good morning, everyone. Mark, want to focus on the demand front. Can you just talk about booking windows if you are seeing those expand at all for both group and transient? And then how have maybe your property managers changed their either revenue management or pricing strategies given the recent RevPAR improvement that we have seen in the United States? Thank you. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. I will start, but I will ask Joan to comment as well. With respect to group, we have 96% or 97% of the rooms sold this year. So we or revenue realized of on-the-books volume. So which is exactly what we would expect to be, and we have about over 55%, somewhere between 55% and 56% Oh, sorry. 55% to 60% is what it meant to say for next year booked now, which is right on path with what we would expect this time of year. So I think the booking window with respect to group has not really changed. The one thing I would note is that the quarter over quarter mix does shift somewhat materially So over the course of the year, corporate is really the key driver for our group. Realization. Which is actually very good news always because there is more in house banqueting in F&B, so higher revenue base for our for our owners. So I would say that the mix is important as well as the booking curve. Booking curve is basically the same Mix is actually favorable. And that is true globally. But it is especially true in the U.S. With respect to leisure, we are about on track as well with respect to volumes. And Joan can talk about this with respect to Hyatt Inclusive Collection specifically because that is that is the place where we have probably the most visibility in terms of mix and market. Business transient remains very short-term. The good news is that if you look, business transient group is up about 5.5%, and business transient was up over 2%. Year-to-date. And I think that is a very positive sign In our case, it is more heavily concentrated towards luxury and full-service hotels. But Joan, maybe you wanna talk about Hyatt Inclusive Collection outlook. Joan Bottarini: Yeah, would just say to add on to what Mark mentioned is that those numbers are our first half numbers, and it is true that our booking windows have not changed much on the peak side. So, we have seen some increasing and encouraging activity, you know, in our outlook for the full year is that those booking windows still remain shorter on the BT side and for leisure we have also, you know, booking windows that are 30 to 60 days out, except for maybe the Hyatt Inclusive Collection business where a flight and a longer booking necessity from our guests to actually make those reservations. And we look I mentioned this in my prepared remarks, but when you look at Q3 and Q4, slightly negative overall. And we reported negative 1.2% in the second quarter for net package RevPAR, and we are seeing sequential improvements week on week into Cancun in particular because that is that is the market that has been the most disrupted post the February security incident. So improving but not as much as we had anticipated. So what is encouraging is when we look out a little bit further, again back to the booking windows, what we are seeing for the first quarter of 2027 still early days, but it is a very important indicator for us to start looking at now as we go into our planning season in the fall is that the Q1 pace is up in the high single digits overall for the region, So we are seeing Cancun a bit flat, but other areas, the West Coast of Mexico, and Dominican Republic are up significantly. Dominican in particular is up over 20%. So, you know, that core leisure traveler and their demand for travel in those high season periods, we are seeing growing, and that gives us a lot of confidence into how Q1 of 2027 is going to shape up. And, again, back to the sequential into this year, we think we will be it will be growing throughout the rest of this year. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. I would just say quick editorial comment. Flat or flattish for Cancun in the first quarter at this point. might seem, you know, unimpressive. But do not forget that the security event did not occur until the very end of February of 2026. So the first quarter of this year was actually pretty strong. For the Cancun region. So for us to be flat at this point, with a lot of booking remaining, and a dynamic where both the West Coast of Mexico and the Dominican have gotten a lot more expensive because a lot of the increase in the revenue pace is coming through rate increases. will cascade into Cancun. So we expect to see Cancun sequentially improve from here on out and see Q1 serially improve. All helpful. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Richard Clarke with Bernstein. Please go ahead. Richard Clarke: Hi, thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to follow-up on the net package RevPAR in Q2. I guess it was quite a big delta from Q1 to Q2. So like in Q1, you are able to offset the weakness in Mexico with strong demand elsewhere. So what kind of changed into Q2? Is it Q2 just more naturally a Mexico heavy quarter? That meant that the effect was felt a bit harder? And if I can ask you a quick second one, just wondering why the buyback number was so low in Q2, just $12 million. Was there some reason you could not buy back stock in Q2 that we maybe did not know about previously? Joan Bottarini: Well, let me answer the first question, Richard. In the quarter, we had anticipated that we would have a increasing demand. Actually, we saw it when we reported Q1 results, and so that is what gave us confidence in what we reported in at the end of the first quarter. And then it sort of leveled out So that was the dynamic that we saw Other regions were very strong. the Dominican was up 8% in the quarter, so people were sort of redirecting some of their bookings and that is the dynamic we saw. But as we mentioned, week on week has grown sequentially better, so we believe that this is very much temporary and as Mark mentioned that this will accelerate into the latter half of this year. As actually occupancies fill up into these other regions as well. With respect to we were locked out for Investor Day for a period of time in the second quarter. So that was part of the activity that you saw. We reaffirmed our guidance with respect to capital returns for this year between $325 million and $375 million. So that is what you can expect to see, the difference between what we have achieved year to date and our outlook at this point in the year. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Smedes Rose with Citi. Please go ahead. Smedes Rose: Oh, hi. Thank you. Switching gears just for a moment away from operational outlook. I was wondering if you could talk about what you are seeing in transactions in the market. It seems somewhat removed, but that the sort of higher end properties are gaining some traction with investors. Is that what you are seeing? Would you expect to be able to execute on that, I guess, going forward? Mark S. Hoplamazian: You took the words right out of my mouth, Smedes Rose. The fact is that excuse me, quality properties in high-barrier-to-entry markets is what is garnering the most attention, and that is where all the activity is. So that is what we are seeing. The rest of the market is I would say, flattish in terms of activity level. And so, yep, I think it is not surprising. We always knew I of course, I would have answered the same thing any quarter in the last 20 years. If you have got great properties in higher-barrier-to-entry markets, they always retain value, there is always a market for them. It just happens that there has been a flight to quality that is been more pronounced. I would say, over the last six months or so. So that is that is what we are seeing in the market. So you have it correct. Thank you. Thank you. Operator: Next question comes from the line of Brandt Montour with Barclays. Please go ahead. Brandt Montour: I was hoping to drill in a little bit on U.S. outlook. You know, if you look at the first half, you guys did a mid single digit number in the U.S. Obviously, there is some FIFA World Cup in there. If I am reading your language correctly, Joan, for the full year US, you are looking for 3% to 4%. I think that was a revenue number, but I am assuming that is that you were you were speaking to RevPAR. But you know, it basically implies a pretty steep step down in the second half. I was wondering if you could just sort of give us some sense of how much of that is conservatism and other calendar things to note as we move through the back half. Joan Bottarini: Sure. You are right about the year to date. It was about 5% growth for the U.S. And it was pretty evenly split growth rates if you look across the 2 quarters between leisure, business, and group. So that was obviously more heavily weighted into the second quarter with respect to group. And the impact of the FIFA World Cup, which was significant. As we look at the second half of the year, group, as I mentioned, is up in the mid-single digits which is where we have the greatest visibility to demand and part of what is embedded in our outlook is the lower visibility that we have to leisure and business. You know, given the momentum we have had, there is upside there. Probably some conservatism there, but we want to make sure that we are sharing what we are seeing and the booking windows that we are seeing. So that is basically what is embedded in the outlook. Mark S. Hoplamazian: I would just add one other thing. Reminder, Labor Day hit at the very beginning of the second quarter of 25. So there is some lapping of that. That had more pronounced impact on upscale and upper midscale hotels than it did luxury. For us, luxury and leisure continue to lead every dimension and in every market around the world. So I went back and looked at the last eight quarters running, there is not any exceptions. The luxury had the highest RevPAR growth with the highest ADR growth in every region and every quarter, so too was leisure. So leisure luxury is where it is at, and that is what we are seeing. Most pronounced actually, interestingly, in China, China luxury properties were up 11% this past quarter in China. A lot of it is leisure. So China is on fire. We are we are up almost 10% in the first half, in RevPAR in China, And it has been remarkable. And the UrCove performance has also been very robust because we are in key locations within the principal cities. So I would say, you know, luxury is alive and well across the board. We are seeing increased inbound traffic into China as well. up 18% this past quarter from the U.S. and up 24% from Europe. Our inbound mix is about mid-20s right now, 24% or so. That compares to 30% pre-COVID. So I would say leisure and luxury has been the engine that has just continued to propel us. To really, really significant fee growth and market share. We have gained market share. Our luxury and lifestyle hotels are up 3 points of market share this past quarter. So I would say we are clicking on all cylinders when it comes to the higher end guest. And my confidence level, even though so-called pace is hard to measure, is extremely high. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Duane Pfennigwerth with Evercore ISI. Please go ahead. Duane Pfennigwerth: Hey, thank you. Just on the cadence of the second half guide or the implied second half, from an EBITDA growth perspective, it feels like the full year would imply some pretty big acceleration from the low double-digit in Q3 into the fourth quarter. You may have touched on some of the drivers, but can you just remind us, is there something in the 4Q comparisons Or what would you view as kind of the key drivers of that growth acceleration from the third quarter into the fourth quarter? Joan Bottarini: So we have some Duane, that is right. there is a strong back half EBITDA assumption there. We do have distribution actually has most of the impact that we outlined is in first half of 2026. So, we have forecasted in the fourth quarter that we will have some improvements and a big factor driving that is the hurricane in the fourth quarter of 2025. So that had some disruption to results in the fourth quarter of 2025 that will be lapping. So there is some upside there. The fee growth from core business in The U.S. And internationally will continue to be strong in the fourth quarter. We also have a little bit of G&A because we had a little bit heavier G&A in the first half. So as you as you look across our guidance, there is a little bit of a pickup there. And finally, I would just mention Playa, the Playa hotels that entered the portfolio. In the fourth quarter is a strong quarter seasonally for those hotels. Those are for the distribution segment. Yep. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Shaun Kelley with Bank of America. Please go ahead. Shaun Kelley: Good morning everyone. Thanks for taking my question. Mark or Joan, just maybe come up a little bit more strategically for a little bit, and I wanted to get your thoughts on just the owner value proposition maybe at this point in the cycle or at this point over the last number of years. I am just kind of curious on how Hyatt thinks about sort of this topic or debate. You have a much larger managed concentration, so it may not be quite as relevant to you, but kind of thoughts on that mix, maybe how your own owner conversations are going and anything you are doing to sort of help them out or work with them a little bit on the broader fee burdens, as it has come up, you know, a little bit elsewhere in the industry? Thanks. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. Shaun, thank you for the question. As you know, we have been forever owners of significant hotels over time. We have our portfolio is small as it has been since the 1960s. So we have sold down a lot of assets, as you know, However, the DNA of thinking as an owner has not left us. it is not been that long ago since COVID hit, and we were having heavy into a lot of real estate ownership. And we were side-by-side, shoulder to shoulder with all of our big owners. Figuring out how to reduce breakeven levels for our full-service hotels from the mid-40s to the low-20s, which we actually accomplished in the space of about four months. So it is a it is a muscle that is highly developed and very toned at Hyatt. So it is constant effort. it is in our DNA, and we have done exhaustive work on pulling apart our systems costs with respect to I am not talking about IT systems, but I am talking about commercial services system commercial services and technologies systems on a comparative basis. And we have extremely high confidence based on a lot of comparisons across FDDs that have been filed and clarity around what is included in what line items that we are highly competitive if not at a cost advantage to our largest competitors. Which I think is counter to maybe accepted wisdom in the industry, which is you have to be gargantuan in order to be efficient, and that is just not the case. Some specific initiatives that we have undertaken, we have removed IT implementation fees for all new openings. The technology cost reductions are significant. So we have converted to a completely new platform, a fully new CRS the implementation of Opera Cloud, and a new RMS, all three of them concurrently over the last 18 months. It you know, you might question our judgment for trying to do all three of those, but I can say now, knock on wood, that we accomplished all of those on time and on budget. As an example, on a per room basis, our PMS cost to owners has been reduced by 40%. that is a significant that is a significant move. As a result of a big investment that we made These were not bills that were sent out to owners to pay for the systems that we put into place. We paid for that. Out of out of our out of our funds, and they derive the benefit on a run rate basis. And over the course of this year, we have developed an AI-enabled platform to help identify the signals that our hotel teams can go after and they primarily relate to revenue opportunities not costs but they also impact costs. So we have got a dedicated team now that is using an AI-enabled tool to look at things like vendor optimization and an overlay with respect to revenue management. which is one of the things that I think accounts for some of our market share performance. I think we have gotten much more precise and very focused with respect to optimizing revenue. Especially when it comes to total revenue and profitability in the group segment. We have developed a large-scale AI platform to actually score and value every piece of group business that comes through the door. And if you put all of that together, we are seeing real significant flow-throughs and we still own enough hotels to track that, but also we have 100% visibility to all of our managed hotels, which is about 70% of our of our rooms around the world. So I can tell you conclusively that we are seeing really healthy flow-throughs as a result of all of these initiatives. It sounds like a lot and it is. We have come through this I think, in a really in a really healthy way. By the way, if you are sitting back and saying, jeez, that must help your pipeline growth, you are right. We just had an owner advisory committee meeting maybe two months ago. And we went over all of these data with our owners. And quite a few of them said, yeah. it is it is not gone unnoticed. And our transparency with them about where the costs lie and how we are going after them has led to increased demand for our brands. Thank you so much. Operator: Next question comes from the line of Daniel Pollitzer with JPMorgan. Please go ahead. Dan Politzer: I wanted to go back to the net rooms growth, at least Mark, you mentioned some stuff shifted around this year. But going back to kind of that Investor Day guidance where you put up that 6% to 8% number, Is it fair to say that kind of going forward as we think about 2027, you should be at least in the kind of mid-point or above part of the range as you benefit from some of the stuff that shifted out of 2026? Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. I think the answer is yes, but I will also give you a historical reference. If you go back and we presented this during the Investor Day, but over the last eight years, from 2017, 2017 to 2025, our organic net rooms growth over that period of time, organic, was 7%. Our total was 9%. And so I am not I am not asking you to bend your imagination. I am I am I am pointing out that our pipeline growth has never been stronger, We are addressing some of the key pain points like financing. Our performance continues to improve. Our systems costs, as I just described, are highly competitive. So all of that sets up for a very solid outlook for net rooms growth in 2027, 2028, and beyond. And I think as we see and we get our hands around more efficient ways to get conversions through the pipe through the funnel. we will see more consistent opening pace as we look forward. You know, I think it is it is important to remember that we have launched two new brands that are conversion brands, and we are learning that our standards and the PIP requirements are a little bit more significant than we had, initially imagined they might be. And so they are taking longer. But that is good news because what you end up with is a higher-quality, higher-rated, more profitable hotel coming out the other end. So I really think that we are talking about more of the same as opposed to some massive inflection point. The two-year stack I mentioned earlier is another proof point of that. Joan Bottarini: I would just add at our Investor Day, we commented that our fees that our total gross fees per room are in excess of the industry. And we look at our pipeline, the pipeline is accretive. So even with having some of these new brands being added, which are, you know, will be dilutive because of the fees per room in that category. We still are very much modeling the fact that accretion is going to come. And as we talked at Investor Day, the 9% to 11% compounded rate over the next couple of years is absolutely our expectation at this point. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. I mean, I did not follow my own admonition to you all Joan just reminded me. it is net fee growth that matters. Let's fix focus on the fees. So organic fee growth over the last five years has been over 10%, 10.4%. And that is in excess of our peers, our larger peers total fee growth. Over that period of time. So this algorithm that we are talking about, 9% to 11%, on the fee side, 6% to 8% on the and the net rooms growth side, fees per key, embedded in the pipeline being higher than they are on the existing portfolio. Nothing has changed. All of those facts, all of those dynamics remain in place. And I would just continue to remind people to please pay attention to fee growth. that is where you can take money to the bank. Understood. Thanks so much. Operator: Next question comes from the line of Trey Bowers with Wells Fargo. Please go ahead. Trey Bowers: Hey, guys. Appreciate the question. Just another net rooms growth question for me and more just kind of modeling. As we look to the next couple of years, managed versus franchise, obviously, total fees matters the most. But just curious, will the growth across those 2 look a lot like it already has? Or will there be a heavier skew towards managed or franchised just given an IMS is a little bit more of a volatile fee stream than a straight franchise fee. Thanks. Mark S. Hoplamazian: I think the answer is this: The mix that we have ahead of us is about two-thirds international. And about two-thirds full-service. And so the that is what is really what is embedded in the pipeline. Now in terms of rate of growth, of hotels in the pipeline, we are seeing higher rates of growth in our Essentials brands. Nonetheless, we have 154,000 rooms in our pipeline. So there is the inevitability of the opening of those hotels which looks a lot like our current mix, I think over time, with a continuous acceleration, which is my expectation, of our Essentials brands filling in really important markets that we do not have access to or not represented in today. We will see franchise increase as a percentage of the total. I do not think you are gonna see a material increase over the next two-years. I think five years, excuse me, five years from now, you will see a perceptible increase in the franchise mix. Okay. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Stephen Grambling with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Stephen Grambling: Hey. Thank you. I think you mentioned a few things around China, including some turnover in the UrCove portfolio, but you also referenced strength in the market and a new agreement in the release with Dossen. Can you just compare and contrast these agreements, as we think about target brands and markets, the royalty rates, and also if there is any color you can provide on the turnover in the UrCove portfolio specifically if that is a one-off. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yep. Thank you for the question. The key fact that I think you need to understand is that the segment that we are talking about, which is upper midscale, both for UrCove and for Hyatt Select. They are executed fundamentally differently than the hotels that are built in upscale and above. So what do I mean? I mean that the vast majority of those hotels vast majority, are leased properties that are primarily offices that are being adaptively redeveloped into hotels. it is not a business that we are in. We do not do that. We have to have a partner who can act as a lessee and who can also who also has the capacity and the entire infrastructure to be able to do that efficiently and effectively. And we have 2 great partners. We have Dossen, that has really done a remarkably great job and the combination of our brand power and World of Hyatt with their technical expertise and operational expertise for these types of hotels has led UrCove to be a great success. With something on the order of 120 to 130 hotels open in pipeline. And real vibrancy there. Turnover, some of the hotels that became UrCoves were already in the Dossen' portfolio. These lease deals tend to be 10 years in length. that is commonplace for the marketplace, and so you end up with some turnover. When you get to the end of lease terms. With respect to Dossen, another large very capable group they likewise have a great deal of specialization in adaptive reuse for upper midscale properties. They also play in other markets, as those Dossen in economy and some above, upscale, and upscale. But our focus with them is on Hyatt Select. And so the purpose of that is to gain access to properties that we would not otherwise have an easy way to execute against unless we were to set up a lessee organization and an execution organization, which, frankly, is not a smart idea for us to do. Meanwhile, our core business, which is heavily dominated in full-service and luxury, is thriving. It is absolutely thriving. So we have I would say, appropriate go-to-market strategies for the segments that we are participating in, in China. Does that make sense? Yep. that is helpful. Thank you. Thanks very much. So, Hi, Elizabeth. I want to thank I am sorry. Please go ahead. I think we are at the top of the hour. So I just want to thank all of you for your time this morning and your interest in Hyatt. We are, of course, incredibly excited about our future, and I think you have heard loud and clear from Joan and I this morning that our confidence with respect to our model that we laid out during our Investor Day and our momentum into 2027 is very, very high and very strong. So I really appreciate the time and attention. And also welcome you to stay at Hyatt as much as possible so we can make our annual numbers and you all will be very happy with us. But also to experience the power of Hyatt's care firsthand. Have a great rest of your day. And we will talk to you next quarter. Operator: This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating and have a wonderful day. You may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Hyatt Hotels, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Hyatt Hotels wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $386,727!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,232,139!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 906% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 208% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 3, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool recommends Hyatt Hotels. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Hyatt (H) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Second quarter RevPAR growth of 5.9% was driven by resilient demand from high-end travelers and significant incremental demand from the FIFA World Cup in host cities. Management attributes market share gains to a brand-led strategy, with luxury and lifestyle portfolios increasing RevPAR index by nearly 3 points during the first half of the year. The World of Hyatt loyalty program reached 69 million members, a 17% increase, which management views as the center of a network effect driving direct channel demand and owner returns. Performance in Greater China remains robust with 7.2% RevPAR growth, supported by strong domestic leisure demand and a recovery in inbound travel from the U.S. and Europe. The company is successfully transitioning to a more asset-light model, focusing on high-margin fee growth and disciplined capital allocation to improve free cash flow conversion. Operational efficiencies were achieved through a concurrent 18-month overhaul of core technology systems, reducing property management system costs for owners by 40%. Strategic expansion in China is being executed via master franchise agreements with local partners to navigate the unique adaptive reuse requirements of the upper midscale segment. Full-year system-wide RevPAR growth outlook increased to 3.5% to 4.5%, reflecting strong forward-looking trends in the U.S. and expected strength in Asia Pacific. Net rooms growth is expected to accelerate in the second half of the year, though the full-year outlook was adjusted to 6% to account for potential fourth-quarter construction slippage into 2027. Management maintains a high-conviction fee growth algorithm of 9% to 11% for the full year, emphasizing that fee growth is the primary driver of shareholder value over room count. The Middle East conflict is expected to reduce full-year fees by approximately $10 million, while slower-than-expected recovery in Mexico is projected to impact fees by $15 million. Capital return targets remain at $325 million to $375 million for 2026, supported by a strong balance sheet and a commitment to maintaining an investment-grade profile. The sale of Hyatt Grand Central New York is no longer expected to close in 2026, though management remains active in discussions to unlock value from other owned assets. Distribution segment adjusted EBITDA declined due to temporary factors including Hurricane Melissa-related closures in Jamaica and softer demand for 4-star properties in Mexico. A new $500 million third-party financing facility was established to support owners in securing construction financing, specifically targeting the acceleration of Hyatt Studios openings. The company launched two new conversion-focused brands, Hyatt Select and Unscripted, which are seeing strong interest despite longer-than-expected property improvement plan (PIP) timelines. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management explained the adjustment is a 'proactively conservative' measure due to the high concentration of complex luxury openings scheduled for the fourth quarter. They emphasized a two-year NRG stack of 16% and reiterated that the long-term 6% to 8% organic growth target remains intact despite short-term timing shifts. Q1 booking pace for 2027 is up in the high single digits overall for the region, with the Dominican Republic seeing growth of over 20%., indicating strong long-term demand for high-end leisure. Business transient windows remain short-term, but corporate group mix is improving, which typically leads to higher in-house food and beverage revenue. Hyatt highlighted its 'owner DNA,' noting it has avoided passing on costs for major IT overhauls (CRS, RMS, and PMS) to owners, instead funding them internally to improve hotel-level flow-through. The company is deploying AI-enabled tools to help owners optimize vendor spending and revenue management, which management believes is driving increased demand for Hyatt brands. While Cancun has been disrupted by a February security incident, management noted sequential weekly improvements and expects a full recovery by the high season in early 2027. The Dominican Republic continues to outperform, with RevPAR up 8%, serving as a stable alternative for high-end leisure travelers.

Interested in Hyatt Hotels Corporation? Here are five stocks we like better. Second-quarter system-wide RevPAR rose 5.9%, exceeding expectations as premium leisure, group travel and FIFA World Cup activity boosted U.S. results. International performance was generally positive, though the Middle East conflict drove a 36% RevPAR decline in the region and Mexico-related weakness pressured all-inclusive results. Hyatt’s asset-light growth continued, with gross fees up 8%, adjusted EBITDA up approximately 9%, World of Hyatt membership rising 17% to 69 million and the development pipeline reaching a record 154,000 rooms. Hyatt raised its full-year RevPAR growth outlook to 3.5%-4.5% while maintaining guidance for gross fees, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. The company plans to return $325 million-$375 million to shareholders in 2026 and continues pursuing asset sales, although the Hyatt Grand Central New York sale is now not expected to close this year. UnitedHealth Just Gave Wall Street a Clearer Turnaround Signal Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) said second-quarter system-wide RevPAR rose 5.9% from a year earlier, exceeding the company’s expectations as premium leisure demand, group travel and FIFA World Cup-related activity supported results. Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Hoplamazian said the company delivered growth in RevPAR, fees and adjusted EBITDA despite regional headwinds affecting parts of its portfolio. He pointed to continued momentum in Hyatt’s luxury brands, loyalty program and development pipeline as evidence of the company’s increasingly asset-light business model. → Why SK hynix Could Be the Best AI Chip Stock to Buy Now Chips & Clips: Memory Tariffs Rewire Tech Supply Chains “Our second quarter results provide another example of that model in action,” Hoplamazian said, citing growth in the company’s commercial platform, brand preference and fee earnings. In the United States, RevPAR increased 6.7% in the second quarter, driven by leisure travel and group demand. Chief Financial Officer Joan Bottarini said the FIFA World Cup contributed roughly 70 basis points of U.S. RevPAR growth, with host cities posting double-digit growth during the second half of June. → Microsoft Just Flipped the AI Spending Narrative Overnight Confidence Is Back, But Earnings Show the Consumer Is Being Picky Group RevPAR rose more than 7% companywide, while business transient RevPAR increased approximately 2%. Leisure transient RevPAR climbed about 7%, led by luxury brands. In U.S. World Cup host cities, group RevPAR rose more than 13% in June and leisure transient RevPAR increased more than 17%, according to Hoplamazian. Outside the U.S., RevPAR grew nearly 5%, or 7.5% excluding the Middle East. The Americas excluding the U.S. recorded 9.5% growth, Greater China rose 7.2%, and Asia Pacific excluding Greater China grew more than 10%. Europe posted 4.5% RevPAR growth as domestic leisure demand offset softer inbound travel from the Middle East. → Carrier Earnings Could Send the Stock to a New All-Time High The Middle East was a significant exception, with RevPAR declining 36% due to the ongoing regional conflict. Hyatt continues to estimate that reduced Middle East hotel revenues will lower full-year fees by approximately $10 million. Hyatt’s all-inclusive business faced separate pressure. Net Package RevPAR declined 1.2% in the quarter, affected by a security incident in Mexico earlier in the year and lower flight capacity. Net Package RevPAR at Dominican Republic hotels increased more than 8%. Bottarini said demand trends in Mexico are improving sequentially, particularly in Cancun, though they have not recovered as much as Hyatt had anticipated. The company now expects Mexico-related softness to reduce fees by about $15 million relative to its earlier outlook. Hyatt expects third-quarter Net Package RevPAR to be moderately below the prior year. Gross fees increased 8% to $324 million, supported by managed-hotel performance, newly opened hotels, management agreements from the Playa portfolio and higher license fees. Adjusted EBITDA from the owned and leased segment rose 16%, adjusted for asset sales, while total adjusted EBITDA increased approximately 9% after adjusting for asset sales. Hyatt ended the quarter with approximately 69 million World of Hyatt members, up 17% from a year earlier. The company also announced a collaboration with Air Canada intended to expand earning and redemption opportunities across the two loyalty programs. The development pipeline reached a record approximately 154,000 rooms, up 10% year over year. Net Rooms Growth was 4.4% in the second quarter, excluding Playa Hotels acquisition rooms that were removed from Hyatt’s room count during the second half of 2025. Hyatt expects full-year Net Rooms Growth of approximately 6%, with more than half of expected openings scheduled for the fourth quarter. Hoplamazian cautioned that the heavy concentration of openings late in the year, particularly among luxury, lifestyle and full-service projects, means that some projects could slip into early 2027. The company cited conversion timing as another factor, saying property improvement plan requirements for the newer Hyatt Select and Unscripted by Hyatt brands have sometimes been more extensive than initially expected. Hyatt opened Miraval, the Red Sea, its first Miraval property outside the U.S. The company also opened THE BARAI Hua Hin, its first Unbound Collection by Hyatt property in Thailand. Hyatt signed a master franchise agreement with Dossen Group to introduce Hyatt Select in mainland China. Hyatt raised its full-year system-wide RevPAR growth forecast to 3.5% to 4.5%. It expects U.S. RevPAR growth of 3% to 4% for the year, with international growth excluding the Middle East conflict expected to be slightly higher than the U.S. The company maintained its full-year gross-fee outlook of $1.305 billion to $1.335 billion, representing growth of 9% to 11%. It also reaffirmed adjusted EBITDA guidance of $1.155 billion to $1.205 billion, representing growth of 13% to 18%, and adjusted free cash flow guidance of $580 million to $630 million. For the third quarter, Hyatt expects global RevPAR growth near the low end of its full-year range, high-single-digit gross-fee growth and Net Package RevPAR that is moderately below the prior year. Hyatt had approximately $2.1 billion in total liquidity at June 30, including $1.5 billion available under its revolving credit facility. It returned about $175 million to shareholders through dividends and repurchases year to date and expects to return $325 million to $375 million during 2026. About $1.5 billion remained under its repurchase authorization at quarter end. Hyatt said it continues to advance a planned sale of the Hyatt Grand Central New York, but no longer expects the transaction to close in 2026. The company said it is also discussing the sale of other owned assets, with the aim of unlocking value while retaining hotels in the Hyatt system under long-term management or franchise agreements. Hoplamazian said investor demand has been strongest for quality properties in high-barrier-to-entry markets. He also emphasized Hyatt’s efforts to support hotel owners through lower technology costs and commercial tools. Hyatt has removed IT implementation fees for new openings, he said, and reduced property-management-system costs per room by 40% after deploying new technology platforms. Looking ahead, Hoplamazian said Hyatt remains focused on fee growth rather than quarterly room-growth fluctuations. He said the company expects its pipeline, premium brand mix and expanding loyalty platform to support continued growth through 2027 and beyond. Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) is a global hospitality company that develops, owns, manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts and vacation properties. Its portfolio spans a range of price points and styles under brands such as Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Thompson Hotels, Alila and Destination by Hyatt. In addition to accommodations, the company provides meeting and event spaces, food and beverage outlets, spa and wellness centers, and a variety of guest services designed to cater to both leisure and business travelers. Hyatt's business model combines property ownership, management contracts and third-party franchising. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Hyatt Hotels Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for July 2026.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, July 30, 2026 at 10 a.m. ET Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy - Ryan Nuckols Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer - Mark Hoplamazian Chief Financial Officer - Joan Bottarini Operator: Good morning, and welcome to Hyatt's Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number 1. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 again. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Ryan Nuckols, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Strategy. Please go ahead. Ryan Nuckols: Thank you, and welcome to Hyatt's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Joining me on today's call are Mark Hoplamazian, Hyatt's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer and Joan Bottarini, Hyatt's chief financial officer. Before we start, I would like to remind everyone that our comments today will include forward-looking statements under federal securities laws. These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties as described in our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other SEC filings. These risks could cause our actual results to be materially different from those expressed in or implied by our comments. Forward looking statements in the earnings release that we issued today along with the comments on this call, are made only as of today and will not be updated as actual events unfold. In addition, you can find a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures referred to in today's remarks under the Financials section of our Investor Relations website in this morning's earnings release. An archive of this call will be available on our website for 90 days. Additionally, we post an investor presentation on our Investor Relations website this morning containing supplemental information. Please note that if not otherwise stated, references to occupancy, average daily rate, and RevPAR, reflects comparable system-wide hotels on a constant-currency basis. And closed hotels in Jamaica are excluded from comparable metrics in 2026. Percentage changes disclosed during the call are on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise noted. With that, I will turn the call over to Mark. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Thank you, Ryan, and good morning, everyone. I appreciate you joining us today. Before I begin, I would like to once again thank everyone who joined us at our recent Investor Day. Both in person and virtually. We appreciated the strong engagement throughout the event. And the thoughtful conversations we have had with many of you since then. it has been encouraging to hear the positive feedback on our strategy, and the long-term opportunities that we outlined. As we showcased at Investor Day, Hyatt has evolved into a more asset-light company with a differentiated operating model built around premium brands, a growing commercial platform, and disciplined capital allocation. Our objective is clear. To sustain a business model capable of delivering durable fee growth, increasing cash flow, and attractive long-term returns, over a wide range of operating environments. Our second quarter results provide another example of that model in action. Despite meaningful regional headwinds in parts of our portfolio, we delivered strong RevPAR, fee, and adjusted EBITDA growth. Expanded World of Hyatt membership, and increased our development pipeline to record levels. These results demonstrate the growing strength of Hyatt's commercial platform the increasing preference for our brands among guests, owners, and developers, and the benefits of a business model where quality, growth translates into higher fee earnings, and free cash flow. Turning to our operating results. This morning, we reported second quarter system-wide RevPAR growth of 5.9%, exceeding our expectations. Performance was driven by durable demand from high-end travelers, and continued strength across our luxury portfolio. With some benefit from the FIFA World Cup. RevPAR growth in the United States exceeded our expectations and we also saw a strong growth across most international markets. RevPAR was up in all customer segments. Business and group travel was solid, with business transient RevPAR increasing approximately 2% during the quarter, and group RevPAR increasing more than 7% compared to last year. FIFA World Cup host cities delivered group RevPAR growth of more than 13% in June. Leisure demand from premium travelers remained exceptionally strong during the quarter, with leisure transient RevPAR increasing approximately 7% compared to last year. Once again, led by our luxury brands. As one example, FIFA World Cup host cities in the United States generated leisure transient RevPAR growth of more than 17% in June. Our performance reflects much more than favorable industry trends. Our brand led strategy continues to differentiate Hyatt and we are gaining market share across our portfolio. During the first half of the year, our luxury and lifestyle portfolios increased RevPAR index by nearly 3 points with a large proportion of our hotels gaining share. This reflects growing preference for our brands, the strength of our commercial platform, and the impact of our brand focused approach. A significant contributor to that growing preference is World of Hyatt, which ended the quarter with approximately 69 million members, an increase of 17% from a year ago. As World of Hyatt membership and engagement grows, we are continuing to enhance the value of the program. One recent example is our collaboration with Air Canada, which brings 2 highly engaged loyalty programs together, and gives members more ways to earn and redeem rewards while expanding the experiences available across both networks. World of Hyatt sits at the center of our network effect. Creating more value for guests, owners, and developers as our system grows. Every new hotel we add expands opportunities for our members. While every new member strengthens the value of our commercial platform. The lasting benefits we create by driving quality growth fuels more direct channel demand, stronger owner returns, and durable fee growth. Development activity remained very strong during the quarter, We ended the quarter with a record development pipeline of approximately 154,000 rooms. up 10% from a year ago. The breadth of our pipeline reflects growing owner preference for Hyatt, Our luxury lifestyle and inclusive collection brands continue to generate strong owner interest, while our essentials brands are building momentum and creating meaningful opportunities to expand Hyatt's brand footprint in markets where we have significant white space. The Hyatt Select brand is a great example of that momentum. During the quarter, in addition to strong signings in the United States, we signed a master franchise agreement with the Dossen Group to bring the Hyatt Select brand to Chinese Mainland. This collaboration combines Hyatt's global brand recognition and the local market expertise and development capabilities of Dossen Group. one of the region's leading hotel operators providing a strong platform to thoughtfully scale the Hyatt Select brand in an important long-term growth market. We delivered net rooms growth of 4.4% for the second quarter excluding rooms from the Playa Hotels acquisition that were removed from Hyatt's room count in the second half of 2025. Among our notable openings this past quarter were Miraval the Red Sea, our first Miraval property outside of the United States, and The Barai, part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, our first property in the Unbound Collection by Hyatt in Thailand. Both of these openings expand our brand presence in the luxury wellness segment while bringing 2 distinctive experiences to World of Hyatt members in sought after destinations. Miraval the Red Sea is the first of a number of important openings planned in Saudi Arabia over the next several years. Development pipeline remains very healthy, and we expect net rooms growth to accelerate significantly over the second half of the year. With a large number of our expected openings scheduled for the fourth quarter. We continue to see meaningful opportunities from both conversions and new build openings. We have adjusted our full year outlook range to reflect the large number of fourth quarter openings, some of which could slip into 2027. I want to be clear. Our confidence in delivering on the strong organic growth we outlined in our Investor Day presentation remains very high. Now turning to transactions, we continue to make progress on the planned sale of the Hyatt Grand Central New York. However, based on our current expectations, we no longer expect the transaction to close in 2026. We will continue to provide updates on this transaction as we reach key milestones. More broadly, we remain active in the market and are in discussions regarding the sale of certain assets to unlock additional value from our owned portfolio. Disciplined approach remains consistent with our track record of pursuing transactions that achieve attractive values, while ensuring our hotels remain in the Hyatt system under long-term management or franchise agreements, supporting continued fee growth and shareholder value. Looking ahead, we remain confident in Hyatt's long-term positioning. As we highlighted during Investor Day, we have transformed Hyatt into a more durable asset-light business. That generates increasing free cash flow as our system grows, and cash conversion improves. Allowing us to continue to invest in the areas of the business that matter most to our guests, owners, and shareholders. Our strategy is producing tangible results. We have led the industry in net rooms growth for the past nine years. Delivered industry leading RevPAR growth over the past five years, And today, generate the highest fees per room among our largest peers. Together, these drivers have created a powerful compounding effect on fee growth. Importantly, achieving that growth requires only modest incremental capital allowing us to reinvest in our brands, commercial platform, and future growth. While continuing to generate increasing levels of free cash flow. We also believe the opportunity ahead remains significant. We have built a differentiated portfolio of brands serving high-end travelers, developed one of the industry's most attractive and fastest growing loyalty programs, and continue to see substantial opportunities to expand our brands in markets where Hyatt has meaningful white space. Together, we believe these advantages position Hyatt to deliver durable long-term growth and consistently create value for shareholders. I would like to close my comments by thanking our Hyatt colleagues around the world who bring our purpose of care to life every day. Their commitment to our guests, owners, and one another is what truly differentiates Hyatt. And gives me great confidence in our future. I will now turn the call over to Joan to provide more details on the quarter. Joan, over to you. Joan Bottarini: Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. During the second quarter, RevPAR exceeded our expectations, increasing 5.9% compared to last year, driven by resilient travel demand from premium travelers and incremental demand from the FIFA World Cup. In the United States, RevPAR increased a very strong 6.7% compared to last year. Driven by robust leisure travel along with healthy group demand. The FIFA World Cup contributed approximately 70 basis points of RevPAR growth. With host cities delivering double-digit growth during the second half of June. Our select service hotels also performed well, with RevPAR increasing 3.5% driven by improving business transient demand and easier comparisons to last year. Outside of the United States, RevPAR increased nearly 5%. and up 7.5% excluding the Middle East. This strong growth reflects robust international travel demand and continued strength in higher end travel. RevPAR in the Americas, excluding the United States, increased 9.5% benefiting from strong regional performance and international demand from the FIFA World Cup. Greater China RevPAR increased an impressive 7.2% compared to last year, supported by leisure transient demand, and strong average rate growth across our largest markets. Asia Pacific, excluding Greater China, delivered robust RevPAR growth of more than 10%, reflecting strong inbound travel and demand in key markets where we have strong brand representation. Europe generated RevPAR growth of 4.5% as healthy domestic leisure demand offset softer inbound travel from the Middle East. RevPAR in the Middle East declined by 36% compared to last year, due to the ongoing conflict in the region. Net package RevPAR in our all-inclusive portfolio declined 1.2% compared to last year, as the security incident in Mexico earlier this year and lower flight capacity had an impact on second quarter demand. Net package RevPAR for our hotels in the Dominican Republic was up over 8% underscoring the strength of the high-end leisure guests in a stable operating environment. Our all-inclusive resorts expanded market share, reflecting the strength of our brands and power of our commercial platform. Overall, our second quarter results reflect continued strength in premium leisure travel globally and healthy corporate travel demand. Turning to our financial results. Our core fee business continued to perform well, supported by strong top-line performance, healthy hotel level profitability, increasing scale, and the quality of our portfolio. Gross fees increased 8% to $324 million, driven by strong performance across our managed portfolio, fees from newly opened hotels, the new management agreements from the Playa portfolio, and growth in license fees. In the second quarter, owned and leased segment adjusted EBITDA increased by 16%, adjusted for the impact of asset sales reflecting the performance from the high-end positioning of our remaining owned and leased hotels. Distribution segment adjusted EBITDA declined compared to the prior year, in line with our expectations, due to temporary factors including hotel closures in Jamaica, following Hurricane Melissa and softer demand in Mexico. Results were also impacted by lower demand for 4-star properties. And we continue to expect it will take time for demand to return to previous levels as flight capacity increases and travel spending improves among this consumer segment. Travel volumes into the Dominican Republic were up 7% for our distribution segment, reflecting continued strength and demand for this destination. Overall, our second quarter adjusted EBITDA reflects the strength of our core fee business and was up approximately 9% year-over-year after adjusting for asset sales. As of June 30, we had total liquidity of approximately $2.1 billion, including $1.5 billion of available capacity on our revolving credit facility. Year-to-date, we have returned approximately $175 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends, and during the second quarter returned approximately $26 million. We ended the quarter with approximately $$1.5 billion remaining under our share repurchase authorization. We remain committed to our investment grade profile, and our balance sheet remains strong. Looking ahead to the second half of 2026, while travel demand continues to vary across regions, we remain confident in our outlook for the year supported by the strength of our brands. As we shared last quarter, we continue to expect hotel revenues in the Middle East to remain significantly below last year which we estimate will reduce full year fees by approximately $10 million. In Mexico, booking trends at our all-inclusive resorts are improving sequentially, but have not yet recovered to the extent we expected. Resulting in an approximately $15 million impact to fees compared to our prior outlook. While we continue to expect positive full year net package RevPAR growth in the Americas, We now expect third quarter net package RevPAR to be moderately below last year. Despite these temporary regional headwinds, we are increasingly encouraged by the strength of our core fee business. In the United States, the FIFA World Cup provided a meaningful benefit during the second quarter and forward-looking trends remained strong for the balance of 2026. With group pace for our US full-service hotels up in the mid-single digits for the remainder of the year. We are also seeing improving trends in our select service portfolio as we lap easier comparisons. Outside of the United States, we expect performance in Asia Pacific to be strong through the balance of 2026. Reflecting these trends, we are increasing our full year system-wide RevPAR growth outlook to between 3.5% and 4.5%. We now expect full year RevPAR growth in the United States of between 3% and 4%. We expect RevPAR growth in international markets, excluding the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, to be slightly higher than the United States for the full year. We expect net rooms growth of approximately 6% for the full year. With momentum in conversions, including in our new brands, driving another year of strong organic growth. As Mark mentioned earlier, we expect the fourth quarter to account for over half of our openings for the year. And we remain confident in our ability to meet the long-term growth expectations that we laid out at our most recent Investor Day. We are maintaining our gross fees outlook for the full year and expect fees to grow between 9% and 11% in the range of $1.305 billion to $1.335 billion reflecting continued growth across our asset-light platform. Despite temporary hotel closures in Jamaica and softer performance in Mexico and the Middle East. We are maintaining our full year adjusted EBITDA outlook and continue to expect adjusted EBITDA grow at a strong rate of 13% to 18% in the range of $1.155 billion to $1.205 billion. This outlook reflects an approximately $25 million year-over-year decline in our Distribution segment for the full year compared to 2025. We are maintaining our adjusted free cash flow outlook for the full year in the range of $580 million to $630 million, representing an increase of between 20% and 30%. This reflects the conversion of adjusted EBITDA to adjusted free cash flow of at least 50% for the full year. Finally, we expect to return between $325 million and $375 million of capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends during 2026. For the third quarter, we expect global RevPAR growth towards the low end of our full year outlook range. We expect net package RevPAR to be moderately below last year. Gross fees are expected to grow in the high-single-digit range compared to the third quarter of 2025. As a reminder, this growth is after adjusting for the $30 million from owned assets sold in 2025 and the $13 million of pro rata JV EBITDA removed under our updated definition. These adjustments are outlined on page A-9 in this morning's earnings release. In closing, our second quarter results reflect the continued strength of Hyatt's asset-light earnings model, As we highlighted during Investor Day, our strategy is designed to generate high quality, durable fee growth, and increasing cash flow over time. And this quarter's results are another demonstration of the successful execution of our strategy. As our system expands, and our brands continue to outperform, we believe we remain well positioned to generate durable fee growth, strong free cash flow, and long-term value for our shareholders. This concludes our prepared remarks, and we are now happy to answer your questions. Operator: At this time, The first question comes from Ben Chaiken with Mizuho. Please go ahead. Ben Chaiken: Would love to just revisit the net rooms growth adjustment, The prepared remarks were very helpful. Is the idea that, Just so I understand perfectly kind of where you are coming from, is the idea that some of the expected rooms in 2026 flipped into 27 or rather given the magnitude of the openings you see in Q4 and how that could be a swing factor you are proactively assuming some move to 2027 out of conservatism? Mark S. Hoplamazian: Thanks, Ben. Let me provide some context, and then I will answer the question very specifically. First of all, I think it is really important to put into context the first couple of quarters of this year. In fact, the first half of this year relative to what were very, very significant growth periods a year ago. Secondly, we had some rooms that came out of the system about, I would say, between the Playa adjustments, which were hotels that we actually acquired but the rooms did not become part of the Hyatt system, but we were reflected in the rooms that we owned. And some turnover in the UrCove portfolio and losses two losses in the Lindner portfolio. That those three factors were a drag in this particular quarter. But when you look at a two-year stack, which is a much, I think, healthier way to look at these things because really, what I think people should be focused on is are the implications for fee growth? We have had very strong fee growth this year. We will continue to have very strong fee growth in the high single digits as Joan mentioned. Or low double-digits. And that will continue to increase into next year. Because of ramp up and so forth and so on. But our two-year stack of net rooms growth in the first quarter and the second quarter of this year were is 16%. So 16% growth in net rooms from first quarter and the second quarter of 24 to the first quarter and second quarter of 26. Secondly, as we said in our Investor Day, our organic growth compounded over the last eight years has been 7%. And that is organic. Total was over 9%. And the pipeline in the first quarter was up over 9%, 10% in the second quarter. So you put all these factors together, and we are set up for persistent significant net rooms growth. With respect to this year, we have seen two things. 1, in the year for the year conversions, especially in the context of two new brands that we launched, Select and Unscripted. In some cases, the PIPs were turned out to be heavier than we initially had modeled. And the timing for the PIP completion has extended. And so we have seen slippage from Q2 to Q3 and Q3 to Q4 already. And secondly, about 50% of our pipeline openings are in the fourth quarter, and the majority of those, over 60%, are luxury lifestyle, and full-service hotels, which inherently are more complicated to forecast. There are many more permits and facilities that need to be prepped and certificated for opening. And therefore, we are looking at a heavy concentration in the fourth quarter and you know, we are we are ourselves saying, okay. So we are taking a Some of these may very well slip into the first quarter. I would say, a proactively conservative estimate on how the year will actually shape out. The key from my perspective is not the hyper-focus on one quarter to the next? Because first of all, the net rooms growth figure is not what I think is going to drive value. it is net fee growth. And so the fee growth algorithm is what drives value. You cannot take net rooms growth to the bank. What we are set up for is significant persistent compounding fee growth in the upper single digits. As we look forward in time. And our growth how do I know that? Because the pipeline growth is actually in that same range. The final thing I will say about our confidence about the algorithm that we put into place or that comes we shared during Investor Day is between the very high demand that we see in the marketplace with respect to new signings, In addition to that, we put into place a financing vehicle with a third party, HALL Structured Finance, a $500 million facility. And we have a dozen, sorry, about a dozen of our already signed Hyatt Studios deals that are going through the approval processes or going through the negotiation process for financing to get those hotels underway. We already have a number of hotels that are under construction and a number that are opened. Trending very well, but we want to accelerate that provided some credit support in that in that facility. So between the core demand that we are seeing for the brands and our pipeline growth and actually trying to address one of the key needs that we see in our owner community, which is financing for construction. We really feel confident that the 6% to 8% range that we gave during Investor Day is going to be realized. Very thorough and helpful answer. Appreciate it. Thanks. Hey. Thanks, Ben. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Bellisario with Baird. Please go ahead. Michael Bellisario: Good morning, everyone. Mark, want to focus on the demand front. Can you just talk about booking windows if you are seeing those expand at all for both group and transient? And then how have maybe your property managers changed their either revenue management or pricing strategies given the recent RevPAR improvement that we have seen in the United States? Thank you. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. I will start, but I will ask Joan to comment as well. With respect to group, we have 96% or 97% of the rooms sold this year. So we or revenue realized of on-the-books volume. So which is exactly what we would expect to be, and we have about over 55%, somewhere between 55% and 56% Oh, sorry. 55% to 60% is what it meant to say for next year booked now, which is right on path with what we would expect this time of year. So I think the booking window with respect to group has not really changed. The one thing I would note is that the quarter over quarter mix does shift somewhat materially So over the course of the year, corporate is really the key driver for our group. Realization. Which is actually very good news always because there is more in house banqueting in F&B, so higher revenue base for our for our owners. So I would say that the mix is important as well as the booking curve. Booking curve is basically the same Mix is actually favorable. And that is true globally. But it is especially true in the U.S. With respect to leisure, we are about on track as well with respect to volumes. And Joan can talk about this with respect to Hyatt Inclusive Collection specifically because that is that is the place where we have probably the most visibility in terms of mix and market. Business transient remains very short-term. The good news is that if you look, business transient group is up about 5.5%, and business transient was up over 2%. Year-to-date. And I think that is a very positive sign In our case, it is more heavily concentrated towards luxury and full-service hotels. But Joan, maybe you wanna talk about Hyatt Inclusive Collection outlook. Joan Bottarini: Yeah, would just say to add on to what Mark mentioned is that those numbers are our first half numbers, and it is true that our booking windows have not changed much on the peak side. So, we have seen some increasing and encouraging activity, you know, in our outlook for the full year is that those booking windows still remain shorter on the BT side and for leisure we have also, you know, booking windows that are 30 to 60 days out, except for maybe the Hyatt Inclusive Collection business where a flight and a longer booking necessity from our guests to actually make those reservations. And we look I mentioned this in my prepared remarks, but when you look at Q3 and Q4, slightly negative overall. And we reported negative 1.2% in the second quarter for net package RevPAR, and we are seeing sequential improvements week on week into Cancun in particular because that is that is the market that has been the most disrupted post the February security incident. So improving but not as much as we had anticipated. So what is encouraging is when we look out a little bit further, again back to the booking windows, what we are seeing for the first quarter of 2027 still early days, but it is a very important indicator for us to start looking at now as we go into our planning season in the fall is that the Q1 pace is up in the high single digits overall for the region, So we are seeing Cancun a bit flat, but other areas, the West Coast of Mexico, and Dominican Republic are up significantly. Dominican in particular is up over 20%. So, you know, that core leisure traveler and their demand for travel in those high season periods, we are seeing growing, and that gives us a lot of confidence into how Q1 of 2027 is going to shape up. And, again, back to the sequential into this year, we think we will be it will be growing throughout the rest of this year. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. I would just say quick editorial comment. Flat or flattish for Cancun in the first quarter at this point. might seem, you know, unimpressive. But do not forget that the security event did not occur until the very end of February of 2026. So the first quarter of this year was actually pretty strong. For the Cancun region. So for us to be flat at this point, with a lot of booking remaining, and a dynamic where both the West Coast of Mexico and the Dominican have gotten a lot more expensive because a lot of the increase in the revenue pace is coming through rate increases. will cascade into Cancun. So we expect to see Cancun sequentially improve from here on out and see Q1 serially improve. All helpful. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Richard Clarke with Bernstein. Please go ahead. Richard Clarke: Hi, thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to follow-up on the net package RevPAR in Q2. I guess it was quite a big delta from Q1 to Q2. So like in Q1, you are able to offset the weakness in Mexico with strong demand elsewhere. So what kind of changed into Q2? Is it Q2 just more naturally a Mexico heavy quarter? That meant that the effect was felt a bit harder? And if I can ask you a quick second one, just wondering why the buyback number was so low in Q2, just $12 million. Was there some reason you could not buy back stock in Q2 that we maybe did not know about previously? Joan Bottarini: Well, let me answer the first question, Richard. In the quarter, we had anticipated that we would have a increasing demand. Actually, we saw it when we reported Q1 results, and so that is what gave us confidence in what we reported in at the end of the first quarter. And then it sort of leveled out So that was the dynamic that we saw Other regions were very strong. the Dominican was up 8% in the quarter, so people were sort of redirecting some of their bookings and that is the dynamic we saw. But as we mentioned, week on week has grown sequentially better, so we believe that this is very much temporary and as Mark mentioned that this will accelerate into the latter half of this year. As actually occupancies fill up into these other regions as well. With respect to we were locked out for Investor Day for a period of time in the second quarter. So that was part of the activity that you saw. We reaffirmed our guidance with respect to capital returns for this year between $325 million and $375 million. So that is what you can expect to see, the difference between what we have achieved year to date and our outlook at this point in the year. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Smedes Rose with Citi. Please go ahead. Smedes Rose: Oh, hi. Thank you. Switching gears just for a moment away from operational outlook. I was wondering if you could talk about what you are seeing in transactions in the market. It seems somewhat removed, but that the sort of higher end properties are gaining some traction with investors. Is that what you are seeing? Would you expect to be able to execute on that, I guess, going forward? Mark S. Hoplamazian: You took the words right out of my mouth, Smedes Rose. The fact is that excuse me, quality properties in high-barrier-to-entry markets is what is garnering the most attention, and that is where all the activity is. So that is what we are seeing. The rest of the market is I would say, flattish in terms of activity level. And so, yep, I think it is not surprising. We always knew I of course, I would have answered the same thing any quarter in the last 20 years. If you have got great properties in higher-barrier-to-entry markets, they always retain value, there is always a market for them. It just happens that there has been a flight to quality that is been more pronounced. I would say, over the last six months or so. So that is that is what we are seeing in the market. So you have it correct. Thank you. Thank you. Operator: Next question comes from the line of Brandt Montour with Barclays. Please go ahead. Brandt Montour: I was hoping to drill in a little bit on U.S. outlook. You know, if you look at the first half, you guys did a mid single digit number in the U.S. Obviously, there is some FIFA World Cup in there. If I am reading your language correctly, Joan, for the full year US, you are looking for 3% to 4%. I think that was a revenue number, but I am assuming that is that you were you were speaking to RevPAR. But you know, it basically implies a pretty steep step down in the second half. I was wondering if you could just sort of give us some sense of how much of that is conservatism and other calendar things to note as we move through the back half. Joan Bottarini: Sure. You are right about the year to date. It was about 5% growth for the U.S. And it was pretty evenly split growth rates if you look across the 2 quarters between leisure, business, and group. So that was obviously more heavily weighted into the second quarter with respect to group. And the impact of the FIFA World Cup, which was significant. As we look at the second half of the year, group, as I mentioned, is up in the mid-single digits which is where we have the greatest visibility to demand and part of what is embedded in our outlook is the lower visibility that we have to leisure and business. You know, given the momentum we have had, there is upside there. Probably some conservatism there, but we want to make sure that we are sharing what we are seeing and the booking windows that we are seeing. So that is basically what is embedded in the outlook. Mark S. Hoplamazian: I would just add one other thing. Reminder, Labor Day hit at the very beginning of the second quarter of 25. So there is some lapping of that. That had more pronounced impact on upscale and upper midscale hotels than it did luxury. For us, luxury and leisure continue to lead every dimension and in every market around the world. So I went back and looked at the last eight quarters running, there is not any exceptions. The luxury had the highest RevPAR growth with the highest ADR growth in every region and every quarter, so too was leisure. So leisure luxury is where it is at, and that is what we are seeing. Most pronounced actually, interestingly, in China, China luxury properties were up 11% this past quarter in China. A lot of it is leisure. So China is on fire. We are we are up almost 10% in the first half, in RevPAR in China, And it has been remarkable. And the UrCove performance has also been very robust because we are in key locations within the principal cities. So I would say, you know, luxury is alive and well across the board. We are seeing increased inbound traffic into China as well. up 18% this past quarter from the U.S. and up 24% from Europe. Our inbound mix is about mid-20s right now, 24% or so. That compares to 30% pre-COVID. So I would say leisure and luxury has been the engine that has just continued to propel us. To really, really significant fee growth and market share. We have gained market share. Our luxury and lifestyle hotels are up 3 points of market share this past quarter. So I would say we are clicking on all cylinders when it comes to the higher end guest. And my confidence level, even though so-called pace is hard to measure, is extremely high. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Duane Pfennigwerth with Evercore ISI. Please go ahead. Duane Pfennigwerth: Hey, thank you. Just on the cadence of the second half guide or the implied second half, from an EBITDA growth perspective, it feels like the full year would imply some pretty big acceleration from the low double-digit in Q3 into the fourth quarter. You may have touched on some of the drivers, but can you just remind us, is there something in the 4Q comparisons Or what would you view as kind of the key drivers of that growth acceleration from the third quarter into the fourth quarter? Joan Bottarini: So we have some Duane, that is right. there is a strong back half EBITDA assumption there. We do have distribution actually has most of the impact that we outlined is in first half of 2026. So, we have forecasted in the fourth quarter that we will have some improvements and a big factor driving that is the hurricane in the fourth quarter of 2025. So that had some disruption to results in the fourth quarter of 2025 that will be lapping. So there is some upside there. The fee growth from core business in The U.S. And internationally will continue to be strong in the fourth quarter. We also have a little bit of G&A because we had a little bit heavier G&A in the first half. So as you as you look across our guidance, there is a little bit of a pickup there. And finally, I would just mention Playa, the Playa hotels that entered the portfolio. In the fourth quarter is a strong quarter seasonally for those hotels. Those are for the distribution segment. Yep. Thank you. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Shaun Kelley with Bank of America. Please go ahead. Shaun Kelley: Good morning everyone. Thanks for taking my question. Mark or Joan, just maybe come up a little bit more strategically for a little bit, and I wanted to get your thoughts on just the owner value proposition maybe at this point in the cycle or at this point over the last number of years. I am just kind of curious on how Hyatt thinks about sort of this topic or debate. You have a much larger managed concentration, so it may not be quite as relevant to you, but kind of thoughts on that mix, maybe how your own owner conversations are going and anything you are doing to sort of help them out or work with them a little bit on the broader fee burdens, as it has come up, you know, a little bit elsewhere in the industry? Thanks. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. Shaun, thank you for the question. As you know, we have been forever owners of significant hotels over time. We have our portfolio is small as it has been since the 1960s. So we have sold down a lot of assets, as you know, However, the DNA of thinking as an owner has not left us. it is not been that long ago since COVID hit, and we were having heavy into a lot of real estate ownership. And we were side-by-side, shoulder to shoulder with all of our big owners. Figuring out how to reduce breakeven levels for our full-service hotels from the mid-40s to the low-20s, which we actually accomplished in the space of about four months. So it is a it is a muscle that is highly developed and very toned at Hyatt. So it is constant effort. it is in our DNA, and we have done exhaustive work on pulling apart our systems costs with respect to I am not talking about IT systems, but I am talking about commercial services system commercial services and technologies systems on a comparative basis. And we have extremely high confidence based on a lot of comparisons across FDDs that have been filed and clarity around what is included in what line items that we are highly competitive if not at a cost advantage to our largest competitors. Which I think is counter to maybe accepted wisdom in the industry, which is you have to be gargantuan in order to be efficient, and that is just not the case. Some specific initiatives that we have undertaken, we have removed IT implementation fees for all new openings. The technology cost reductions are significant. So we have converted to a completely new platform, a fully new CRS the implementation of Opera Cloud, and a new RMS, all three of them concurrently over the last 18 months. It you know, you might question our judgment for trying to do all three of those, but I can say now, knock on wood, that we accomplished all of those on time and on budget. As an example, on a per room basis, our PMS cost to owners has been reduced by 40%. that is a significant that is a significant move. As a result of a big investment that we made These were not bills that were sent out to owners to pay for the systems that we put into place. We paid for that. Out of out of our out of our funds, and they derive the benefit on a run rate basis. And over the course of this year, we have developed an AI-enabled platform to help identify the signals that our hotel teams can go after and they primarily relate to revenue opportunities not costs but they also impact costs. So we have got a dedicated team now that is using an AI-enabled tool to look at things like vendor optimization and an overlay with respect to revenue management. which is one of the things that I think accounts for some of our market share performance. I think we have gotten much more precise and very focused with respect to optimizing revenue. Especially when it comes to total revenue and profitability in the group segment. We have developed a large-scale AI platform to actually score and value every piece of group business that comes through the door. And if you put all of that together, we are seeing real significant flow-throughs and we still own enough hotels to track that, but also we have 100% visibility to all of our managed hotels, which is about 70% of our of our rooms around the world. So I can tell you conclusively that we are seeing really healthy flow-throughs as a result of all of these initiatives. It sounds like a lot and it is. We have come through this I think, in a really in a really healthy way. By the way, if you are sitting back and saying, jeez, that must help your pipeline growth, you are right. We just had an owner advisory committee meeting maybe two months ago. And we went over all of these data with our owners. And quite a few of them said, yeah. it is it is not gone unnoticed. And our transparency with them about where the costs lie and how we are going after them has led to increased demand for our brands. Thank you so much. Operator: Next question comes from the line of Daniel Pollitzer with JPMorgan. Please go ahead. Dan Politzer: I wanted to go back to the net rooms growth, at least Mark, you mentioned some stuff shifted around this year. But going back to kind of that Investor Day guidance where you put up that 6% to 8% number, Is it fair to say that kind of going forward as we think about 2027, you should be at least in the kind of mid-point or above part of the range as you benefit from some of the stuff that shifted out of 2026? Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. I think the answer is yes, but I will also give you a historical reference. If you go back and we presented this during the Investor Day, but over the last eight years, from 2017, 2017 to 2025, our organic net rooms growth over that period of time, organic, was 7%. Our total was 9%. And so I am not I am not asking you to bend your imagination. I am I am I am pointing out that our pipeline growth has never been stronger, We are addressing some of the key pain points like financing. Our performance continues to improve. Our systems costs, as I just described, are highly competitive. So all of that sets up for a very solid outlook for net rooms growth in 2027, 2028, and beyond. And I think as we see and we get our hands around more efficient ways to get conversions through the pipe through the funnel. we will see more consistent opening pace as we look forward. You know, I think it is it is important to remember that we have launched two new brands that are conversion brands, and we are learning that our standards and the PIP requirements are a little bit more significant than we had, initially imagined they might be. And so they are taking longer. But that is good news because what you end up with is a higher-quality, higher-rated, more profitable hotel coming out the other end. So I really think that we are talking about more of the same as opposed to some massive inflection point. The two-year stack I mentioned earlier is another proof point of that. Joan Bottarini: I would just add at our Investor Day, we commented that our fees that our total gross fees per room are in excess of the industry. And we look at our pipeline, the pipeline is accretive. So even with having some of these new brands being added, which are, you know, will be dilutive because of the fees per room in that category. We still are very much modeling the fact that accretion is going to come. And as we talked at Investor Day, the 9% to 11% compounded rate over the next couple of years is absolutely our expectation at this point. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yeah. I mean, I did not follow my own admonition to you all Joan just reminded me. it is net fee growth that matters. Let's fix focus on the fees. So organic fee growth over the last five years has been over 10%, 10.4%. And that is in excess of our peers, our larger peers total fee growth. Over that period of time. So this algorithm that we are talking about, 9% to 11%, on the fee side, 6% to 8% on the and the net rooms growth side, fees per key, embedded in the pipeline being higher than they are on the existing portfolio. Nothing has changed. All of those facts, all of those dynamics remain in place. And I would just continue to remind people to please pay attention to fee growth. that is where you can take money to the bank. Understood. Thanks so much. Operator: Next question comes from the line of Trey Bowers with Wells Fargo. Please go ahead. Trey Bowers: Hey, guys. Appreciate the question. Just another net rooms growth question for me and more just kind of modeling. As we look to the next couple of years, managed versus franchise, obviously, total fees matters the most. But just curious, will the growth across those 2 look a lot like it already has? Or will there be a heavier skew towards managed or franchised just given an IMS is a little bit more of a volatile fee stream than a straight franchise fee. Thanks. Mark S. Hoplamazian: I think the answer is this: The mix that we have ahead of us is about two-thirds international. And about two-thirds full-service. And so the that is what is really what is embedded in the pipeline. Now in terms of rate of growth, of hotels in the pipeline, we are seeing higher rates of growth in our Essentials brands. Nonetheless, we have 154,000 rooms in our pipeline. So there is the inevitability of the opening of those hotels which looks a lot like our current mix, I think over time, with a continuous acceleration, which is my expectation, of our Essentials brands filling in really important markets that we do not have access to or not represented in today. We will see franchise increase as a percentage of the total. I do not think you are gonna see a material increase over the next two-years. I think five years, excuse me, five years from now, you will see a perceptible increase in the franchise mix. Okay. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Stephen Grambling with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Stephen Grambling: Hey. Thank you. I think you mentioned a few things around China, including some turnover in the UrCove portfolio, but you also referenced strength in the market and a new agreement in the release with Dossen. Can you just compare and contrast these agreements, as we think about target brands and markets, the royalty rates, and also if there is any color you can provide on the turnover in the UrCove portfolio specifically if that is a one-off. Mark S. Hoplamazian: Yep. Thank you for the question. The key fact that I think you need to understand is that the segment that we are talking about, which is upper midscale, both for UrCove and for Hyatt Select. They are executed fundamentally differently than the hotels that are built in upscale and above. So what do I mean? I mean that the vast majority of those hotels vast majority, are leased properties that are primarily offices that are being adaptively redeveloped into hotels. it is not a business that we are in. We do not do that. We have to have a partner who can act as a lessee and who can also who also has the capacity and the entire infrastructure to be able to do that efficiently and effectively. And we have 2 great partners. We have Dossen, that has really done a remarkably great job and the combination of our brand power and World of Hyatt with their technical expertise and operational expertise for these types of hotels has led UrCove to be a great success. With something on the order of 120 to 130 hotels open in pipeline. And real vibrancy there. Turnover, some of the hotels that became UrCoves were already in the Dossen' portfolio. These lease deals tend to be 10 years in length. that is commonplace for the marketplace, and so you end up with some turnover. When you get to the end of lease terms. With respect to Dossen, another large very capable group they likewise have a great deal of specialization in adaptive reuse for upper midscale properties. They also play in other markets, as those Dossen in economy and some above, upscale, and upscale. But our focus with them is on Hyatt Select. And so the purpose of that is to gain access to properties that we would not otherwise have an easy way to execute against unless we were to set up a lessee organization and an execution organization, which, frankly, is not a smart idea for us to do. Meanwhile, our core business, which is heavily dominated in full-service and luxury, is thriving. It is absolutely thriving. So we have I would say, appropriate go-to-market strategies for the segments that we are participating in, in China. Does that make sense? Yep. that is helpful. Thank you. Thanks very much. So, Hi, Elizabeth. I want to thank I am sorry. Please go ahead. I think we are at the top of the hour. So I just want to thank all of you for your time this morning and your interest in Hyatt. We are, of course, incredibly excited about our future, and I think you have heard loud and clear from Joan and I this morning that our confidence with respect to our model that we laid out during our Investor Day and our momentum into 2027 is very, very high and very strong. So I really appreciate the time and attention. And also welcome you to stay at Hyatt as much as possible so we can make our annual numbers and you all will be very happy with us. But also to experience the power of Hyatt's care firsthand. Have a great rest of your day. And we will talk to you next quarter. Operator: This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating and have a wonderful day. You may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Hyatt Hotels, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Hyatt Hotels wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $397,081!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,166,221!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 889% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 203% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 30, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool recommends Hyatt Hotels. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Hyatt (H) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Hyatt Hotels (H) came out with quarterly earnings of $1.12 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.9 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.68 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +24.44%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this hotel operator would post earnings of $0.57 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.63, delivering a surprise of +10.53%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Hyatt Hotels, which belongs to the Zacks Hotels and Motels industry, posted revenues of $1.83 billion for the quarter ended June 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.76%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $1.81 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Hyatt Hotels shares have added about 16% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 6.9%. While Hyatt Hotels has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Hyatt Hotels was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.93 on $1.78 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $3.58 on $7.15 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Hotels and Motels is currently in the bottom 13% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. One other stock from the same industry, Marriott International (MAR), is yet to report results for the quarter ended June 2026. The results are expected to be released on August 3. This hotel company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $3.06 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +15.5%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.1% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. Marriott International's revenues are expected to be $7.26 billion, up 7.7% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) : Free Stock Analysis Report Marriott International, Inc. (MAR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research