Marriott's last earnings caught my eyes, as the layman would assume travel was down since inflation is up, jobs reports are BS, and ICE didn't exactly create a super fun travel climate for everybody. With oil prices increasing flight prices as well...didn't think this would happen.
However, overall they did better than you'd expect with the following points, which were similar for the sector:
* ***Second quarter 2026 RevPAR***^(1) ***increased 3.4 percent worldwide, with 5.0 percent growth in the U.S. & Canada and a 0.5 percent*** ***decline in international markets***
* ***Second quarter reported diluted EPS totaled $2.90 and Adjusted diluted EPS totaled $3.19***
* ***Second quarter reported net income totaled $766 million and Adjusted net income totaled $844 million***
* ***Second quarter Adjusted EBITDA totaled $1,592 million***
* ***The company added roughly 17,900 net rooms globally during the quarter and net rooms grew 4.5 percent from the end of the second quarter of 2025***
* ***At the end of the quarter, Marriott's worldwide development pipeline reached a new record and totaled nearly 4,200 properties and approximately 629,000 rooms, with 44 percent of pipeline rooms under construction including hotels that are pending conversion***
* ***The company repurchased 3.0 million shares of common stock for $1.1 billion in the 2026 second quarter. Year-to-date through July 29, the company has returned approximately $2.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases***
Overall, what are our thoughts on the travel sector going forward in 2026-2027? Airlines are doing well, Boeing just bought a stake in Archer Aviation, and cruises are still cruisin'.
I'm down to put 20% of my portfolio spread between a few tickers in this sector if you all have a convincing argument.
TL;DR: Green Pepe Boners for Travel?