Marriott Beats Q3 Earnings and Raises Outlook on 6.5% RevPAR Gain

Marriott International beat third quarter earnings estimates on Monday, November 2, and raised its full year outlook, as guests paid more per room across its hotels. The company reported adjusted earnings of $3.02 per share for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, up from $2.47 per share a year earlier and ahead of the $2.86 Zacks consensus estimate, a surprise of 5.59 percent.

Revenue rose 8 percent to $7.01 billion, from $6.49 billion a year earlier, just under the Zacks consensus estimate, a miss of 0.54 percent. Net income rose 9 percent to $794 million, from $728 million, and reported diluted earnings came in at $3.04 per share, up from $2.67. Worldwide revenue per available room, the hotel measure known as RevPAR, rose 6.5 percent, with growth of 7.4 percent in the United States and Canada, according to a same day earnings summary of the results.

The fee business did the heavy lifting. Gross fee revenue grew 14 percent to $1.52 billion, and adjusted EBITDA rose 12 percent to $1.51 billion, according to TradingKey's breakdown of the release. Incentive management fees rose 22 percent to $181 million, with growth in every region and a strong increase in the United States and Canada. The room base grew 4.6 percent, and co-branded credit card fees added to the fee line. The weaker spot was owned and leased hotels, where the contribution fell, partly on a property related litigation charge and lower termination fees.

Guidance goes up

Marriott used the quarter to raise the year. The company lifted its full year worldwide RevPAR growth outlook to 4.5 to 5.0 percent, from 3.0 to 3.5 percent before, and set full year adjusted earnings guidance at $12.07 to $12.14 per share, according to MarketFlux's report on the release. Fourth quarter adjusted earnings guidance came in at $3.14 to $3.21 per share, with fourth quarter RevPAR growth also seen at 4.5 to 5.0 percent. Full year adjusted EBITDA guidance was set at $6.08 billion to $6.10 billion.

Investors liked the mix of a beat and a raise. Shares rose more than 4 percent in early trading and hit a record high of $423.53 during the session, MarketFlux reported, and the stock set a new 52 week high on the day, according to The Markets Daily. Marriott also returned about $4.0 billion to shareholders so far this year through October 28, on about $1.3 billion of buybacks and dividends in the quarter, the same report said. Figures in some data feeds that show quarterly revenue near $1.93 billion are counting adjusted revenue without the cost reimbursement line; the reported total is $7.01 billion, and the two numbers describe the same quarter in different ways.

Why it matters

Marriott is a clean read on travel demand because it owns few of the hotels that carry its brands. Fee income rises when owners fill rooms at higher rates, so a 6.5 percent RevPAR gain with a raise attached says demand held up into the autumn in North America, its biggest market. The test now is the fourth quarter guide itself: the company has told investors to expect the same RevPAR pace and stronger earnings per share, and holiday and business travel bookings will decide in the next eight weeks whether that guide was confidence or hope.

What happens next

Apple and Palantir report after the close on Monday, and Marriott's print sets the tone for the rest of the travel earnings week. For Marriott, watch group bookings and U.S. and Canada RevPAR in the fourth quarter, and whether the owned and leased drag fades. This is not financial advice. Do your own due diligence.