We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Hospitality Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where H World Group Limited (NASDAQ:HTHT) stands against the other hospitality stocks.
The hospitality industry is growing quickly and covers businesses related to lodging, dining, tourism, and other services. Approximately 17 million individuals, or more than 10% of the US total, are employed in the leisure and hospitality industry, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The industry remains a major attraction for recent immigrant labor and an engine of upward mobility, and hotels continue to be sites where hourly staff can advance to the executive suite.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenging time for the hospitality industry. While many hospitality businesses saw profits drop, the most successful were able to face the challenges and recover once restrictions were eased.
In 2024, the global hospitality market reached $4.9 trillion, showing consistent expansion in the hospitality industry. It contributed to 10% of the world’s GDP as per The World Travel and Tourism and had an economic impact of a record $11.1 trillion. Between January and September 2024, there were 1.1 billion tourists worldwide, an 11% rise over 2023. Looking ahead, the travel and tourism industry is forecast to increase at a 5.8% annual rate between 2022 and 2032, surpassing global economic growth of 2.7% per year.
Looking forward, as per EHL’s hospitality industry insights, 2025 will see a shift in hospitality trends driven by sustainability, innovation, and personalization. From cutting-edge AI technology that improves visitor experiences to contemporary work styles that empower staff, the industry is changing to meet changing expectations. Secondly, workplaces are being shaped by flexibility, inclusivity, and well-being, which is drawing in a new generation of talent ready to work together and have an effect. Meanwhile, innovations like hyper-personalized services and predictive maintenance are redefining excellence. Nowadays, sustainability and customization are key components of hospitality, as visitors look for experiences that are meaningful and customized from establishments that value well-being and ethical behavior. The industry is further elevated by culinary trends, experiential dining, and data-driven analytics, which open doors for innovative, forward-thinking experts.
Dr Jean-Philippe Weisskopf, Assistant Professor of Finance at EHL, stated:
“Tools capable of crunching large swaths of user data are offering hospitality businesses of all sizes the key to unlock smarter financial decisions. With machine learning and real-time analytics, leaders can now predict trends and make moves faster, turning data-driven strategies into a competitive edge.”
On the other hand, according to PwC’s report, which focuses on the key areas of innovation, evolution, and concern that hotel industry leaders and investors are focusing on through 2025 and beyond, the hospitality industry is balancing stability in the short term with long-term expansion. According to the projections, hotel occupancy in the United States is expected to increase to 63.6% in 2024, with RevPAR rising 2.2% to nominally reach 116% of pre-pandemic levels. However, inflation is putting pressure on profits, and room rate hikes have slowed. Group and business travel are getting better, but they are unable to keep up with the drop in demand for leisure travel. Secondly, extended-stay properties, which are worth $300 billion worldwide, are a bright light, but investment activity is still muted because of high capital costs.
Over the next fifty years, growth is anticipated to be driven by mid-market hotels, while luxury developments continue to draw cash. However, there are still labor issues because wages are rising faster than revenue. The sector prioritizes staff retention because it employs 17 million people in the United States, as mentioned above. Key tactics for future resilience include brand transformations, technology investments, and alternate real estate purchases. Hospitality executives are hopeful about continued long-term growth despite economic concerns.
A modern hotel standing tall with a well-lit lobby entrance.
Methodology
We sifted through holdings of hospitality ETFs and online rankings to form an initial list of 30 Hospitality stocks. These companies specialize in lodging, dining, tourism, and other related services. From the resultant dataset, we chose the top 10 stocks most favoured by hedge funds, using Insider Monkey’s database of 1009 hedge funds in Q4 2024 to gauge hedge fund sentiment for stocks.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
H World Group Limited (NASDAQ:HTHT)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 29
H World Group Limited (NASDAQ:HTHT) is among the Best Hospitality Stocks. It is a Chinese hotel chain with multiple brands that operate internationally. It uses the franchised, managed, and leased business models. Legacy Huazhu and Legacy DH are the company’s two operating segments. A number of hotels, including the Joya, Ni Hao, JI, and Orange hotels, are owned by the company.
In Q4 2024, H World Group Limited (NASDAQ:HTHT)’s sales surpassed forecasts by growing 7.8% YoY to $825 million, and for the entire year, it jumped 9.2% YoY to $3.3 billion. Hotel turnover surged 16.5% year over year, with Legacy-Huazhu and Legacy-DH segments seeing 17.5% and 6.5% growth, respectively, in Q4.
Despite impressive results, foreign exchange losses and higher tax rates caused net income to drop. In 2024, adjusted EBITDA increased 7.9% year over year to 6.8 billion (US$935 million), demonstrating operational strength even with DH’s restructuring costs. As of December 31, 2024, the company had 11,147 hotels with 1.08 million rooms, positioning it for future expansion.
H World Group Limited (NASDAQ:HTHT) announced $267 million in share repurchases and $300 million worth of cash dividends for H2 2024, for a total of $500 million for the year. This brings the total payouts to shareholders to $767 million. The business is focusing on franchised and managed operations as it transitions to an asset-light model. Revenue is anticipated to increase by 0%-4% in the first quarter of 2025, with franchised and managed revenue growing by 18%-22%. Revenue is anticipated to climb by 2% to 6% in FY25, with franchised and managed revenue rising by 17% to 21%. In 2025, H World Group Limited (NASDAQ:HTHT) aims to close 600 hotels and open 2,300 new ones
Overall, HTHT ranks 9th on our list of the Best Hospitality Stocks to Buy According to Hedge Funds. While we acknowledge the potential for HTHT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HTHT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stock To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
