Hilton Reports Third Quarter Results

MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. ("Hilton," "the Company," "we," "us" or "our") (NYSE: HLT) today reported its third quarter 2026 results. Highlights include:

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• Diluted EPS was $2.37 for the third quarter, and diluted EPS, adjusted for special items, was $2.45
• Net income was $536 million for the third quarter
• Adjusted EBITDA was $1,058 million for the third quarter
• System-wide comparable RevPAR increased 5.8 percent, on a currency neutral basis, for the third quarter compared to the same period in 2025
• Approved 30,500 new rooms for development during the third quarter, bringing our development pipeline to 543,100 rooms as of September 30, 2026, representing growth of 5 percent from September 30, 2025
• Added 27,000 rooms to our system, resulting in 23,000 net additional rooms for the third quarter, up 6.5 percent sequentially from the second quarter, contributing to net unit growth of 6.0 percent from September 30, 2025
• Announced the appointment of Jeff Moore as Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Jeff will harness his deep experience developing consumer-facing technologies and Hilton’s already-industry-leading technology platform to strengthen the Company's commitment to lead the industry in technology innovation
• On October 20, announced that Hilton will transfer its stock listing to Nasdaq under its existing ticker, "HLT," effective November 5, 2026. The move aligns with the Company's innovation and growth ambitions, and no action is required by shareholders
• Repurchased 2.6 million shares of Hilton common stock during the third quarter, bringing total capital return, including dividends, to $879 million for the quarter and $2,902 million year to date through October
• Full year 2026 system-wide RevPAR is projected to increase between 4.0 percent and 4.5 percent on a comparable and currency neutral basis compared to 2025; full year net income is projected to be between $1,909 million and $1,923 million; full year Adjusted EBITDA is projected to be between $4,060 million and $4,080 million
• Full year 2026 capital return is projected to be approximately $3.5 billion

Overview

Christopher J. Nassetta, President & Chief Executive Officer of Hilton, said, "We delivered strong top and bottom-line results for the third quarter that exceeded our expectations. Our results were driven by momentum across our system, which we expect to continue for the remainder of the year and into 2027. We achieved our highest quarter ever for organic openings, and the continued quarterly sequential increases give us confidence in delivering net unit growth around the midpoint of our 6.0% to 7.0% full-year guidance range.”

For the three months ended September 30, 2026, system-wide comparable RevPAR increased 5.8 percent compared to the same period in 2025 due to an increase in both occupancy and ADR. Management and franchise fee revenues increased 9.5 percent compared to the same period in 2025.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, system-wide comparable RevPAR increased 4.7 percent compared to the same period in 2025 due to an increase in both occupancy and ADR. Management and franchise fee revenues increased 8.7 percent compared to the same period in 2025.

For the three months ended September 30, 2026, diluted EPS was $2.37 and diluted EPS, adjusted for special items, was $2.45, compared to $1.78 and $2.11, respectively, for the three months ended September 30, 2025. Net income and Adjusted EBITDA were $536 million and $1,058 million, respectively, for the three months ended September 30, 2026, compared to $421 million and $976 million, respectively, for the three months ended September 30, 2025.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, diluted EPS was $6.13 and diluted EPS, adjusted for special items, was $6.75, compared to $4.84 and $6.03, respectively, for the nine months ended September 30, 2025. Net income and Adjusted EBITDA were $1,401 million and $3,013 million, respectively for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, compared to $1,163 million and $2,779 million, respectively, for the nine months ended September 30, 2025.

Development

In the third quarter of 2026, we opened 182 hotels, totaling 27,000 rooms, resulting in 23,000 net room additions. Notable openings included the Hale Hokuala Kauai, Curio Collection by Hilton, which marked the debut of the lifestyle brand in Hawaii, and the Den Bengaluru, LXR Hotels & Resorts, marking the luxury brand’s debut in India. Additionally, we opened the DoubleTree by Hilton Singapore Robertson Quay, the Canopy by Hilton Bangkok Sukhumvit and the Spark by Hilton Milan Linate Airport, which marked the brands' debuts in Singapore, Thailand and Italy, respectively. We also opened our first hotels under Select by Hilton during the quarter, following its launch earlier this year. The opening of the Hilton Istanbul Airport marked the 100th hotel in Türkiye, and we expect to continue to see expansion in the Middle East & Africa region, with more than 20 signings during the quarter. We also continued to expand our global luxury development pipeline with new signings across Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and LXR Hotels & Resorts, including Waldorf Astoria Seychelles Mahe, Conrad Bengaluru Airport and Iona Galapagos, LXR Hotels & Resorts.

We added 30,500 rooms to the development pipeline during the third quarter, and, as of September 30, 2026, our development pipeline totaled 3,869 hotels representing 543,100 rooms throughout 135 countries and territories, including 26 countries and territories where we had no existing hotels. Additionally, of the rooms in the development pipeline, nearly half were under construction and more than half were located outside of the U.S.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of September 30, 2026, we had $13.5 billion of debt outstanding, excluding the deduction for unamortized deferred financing costs and discount, with a weighted average interest rate of 5.09 percent. Excluding all finance lease liabilities, we had $13.1 billion of debt outstanding with a weighted average interest rate of 5.10 percent and no material indebtedness that matures until April 2029, other than $600 million of outstanding Senior Notes due April 2027. We believe that we have sufficient sources of liquidity and access to debt financing to address the Senior Notes due April 2027 at or prior to their maturity date as well as all indebtedness that becomes due thereafter.

As of September 30, 2026, no borrowings were outstanding under our senior secured revolving credit facility, which had an available borrowing capacity of $1,894 million after considering $106 million of letters of credit outstanding. Total cash and cash equivalents were $830 million as of September 30, 2026, including $56 million of restricted cash and cash equivalents.

In September 2026, we paid a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share of common stock, for a total payment of $34 million, bringing total dividend payments for the year to $103 million. In October 2026, our board of directors authorized a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share of common stock to be paid on December 29, 2026 to holders of record of our common stock as of the close of business on December 1, 2026.

During the three months ended September 30, 2026, we repurchased 2.6 million shares of Hilton common stock at an average price per share of $320.05, for a total of $845 million. During the nine months ended September 30, 2026 we repurchased 8.2 million shares of Hilton common stock at an average price per share of $316.36, returning $2,705 million of capital to shareholders, including dividends. Total capital return to shareholders, including dividends year-to-date through October, was $2,902 million.

The number of shares outstanding as of October 22, 2026 was 222.5 million.

Outlook

Share-based metrics in Hilton's outlook include actual share repurchases through the third quarter but do not include the effects of potential share repurchases thereafter.

Full Year 2026

• System-wide comparable RevPAR, on a currency neutral basis, is projected to increase between 4.0 percent and 4.5 percent compared to 2025.
  • Third quarter benefited from the World Cup and favorable calendar and holiday shifts; the fourth quarter is expected to be affected by midterm elections and increased impact from the Middle East.
• Diluted EPS is projected to be between $8.38 and $8.44.
• Diluted EPS, adjusted for special items, is projected to be between $9.07 and $9.13.
• Net income is projected to be between $1,909 million and $1,923 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA is projected to be between $4,060 million and $4,080 million, which incorporates lower expectations for performance in the Middle East and timeshare license fees compared to our prior guidance.
• Contract acquisition costs and capital expenditures, excluding amounts reimbursed by third parties, are projected to be between $350 million and $375 million.
• Capital return is projected to be approximately $3.5 billion.
• General and administrative expenses are projected to be approximately $400 million.
• Net unit growth is projected to be between 6.0 percent and 7.0 percent, with expectations around the midpoint of the range, reflecting expected sequential growth in net additional rooms in the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter 2026

• System-wide comparable RevPAR, on a currency neutral basis, is projected to increase between 3.0 percent and 3.5 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2025.
• Diluted EPS is projected to be between $2.25 and $2.31.
• Diluted EPS, adjusted for special items, is projected to be between $2.32 and $2.38.
• Net income is projected to be between $508 million and $522 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA is projected to be between $1,047 million and $1,067 million.

Conference Call

Hilton will host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2026 results on October 27, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Participants may listen to the live webcast by logging on to the Hilton Investor Relations website at https://ir.hilton.com/events-and-presentations. A replay and transcript of the webcast will be available within 24 hours after the live event at https://ir.hilton.com/financial-reporting.

Alternatively, participants may listen to the live call by dialing 1-888-317-6003 in the United States ("U.S.") or 1-412-317-6061 internationally using the conference ID 4278941. Participants are encouraged to dial into the call or link to the webcast at least fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled start time. A telephone replay will be available for seven days following the call. To access the telephone replay, dial 1-855-669-9658 in the U.S. or 1-412-317-0088 internationally using the conference ID 9687068.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to our expectations regarding the performance of our business, future financial results, liquidity and capital resources and other non-historical statements. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "forecasts," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seeks," "projects," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties including, among others, risks inherent to the hospitality industry; macroeconomic factors beyond our control, such as inflation, changes in interest rates, challenges due to labor shortages or disputes and supply chain disruptions; the loss of key senior management personnel; competition for hotel guests and management and franchise contracts; risks related to doing business with third-party hotel owners; performance of our information technology systems; growth of reservation channels outside of our system; risks of doing business outside of the U.S.; risks associated with geopolitical conflicts, including Iran; uncertainty resulting from U.S. and global political trends, tariffs and other policies, including potential barriers to travel, trade and immigration and other geopolitical events; and our indebtedness. Additional factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found under the section entitled "Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, which is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and is accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this press release and in our filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

Definitions

See the "Definitions" section for the definition of certain terms used within this press release, including within the schedules.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We refer to certain financial measures that are not recognized under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") in this press release, including: net income, adjusted for special items; diluted EPS, adjusted for special items; Adjusted EBITDA; Adjusted EBITDA margin; net debt; and net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio. See the schedules to this press release, including the "Definitions" section, for additional information and reconciliations of such non-GAAP financial measures, as well as the most comparable GAAP financial measures.

About Hilton

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 28 world-class brands comprising more than 9,600 properties and over 1.4 million rooms, in 144 countries and territories. Dedicated to fulfilling its founding vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, Hilton has welcomed over 4 billion guests in its more than 100-year history. Named as the No. 1 World's Best Workplace by Great Place to Work and Fortune, Hilton aims to create the best culture for its 500,000 team members around the world. Hilton has introduced industry-leading technology enhancements to improve the guest experience, including Digital Key Share, automated complimentary room upgrades and the ability to book confirmed connecting rooms. Through the award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, the 270 million Hilton Honors members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays and experiences money can't buy. With the free Hilton Honors app, guests can book their stay, select their room, check in, unlock their door with a Digital Key and check out, all from their smartphone. Visit stories.hilton.com for more information, and connect with Hilton on facebook.com/hiltonnewsroom, x.com/hiltonnewsroom, linkedin.com/company/hilton, instagram.com/hiltonnewsroom and youtube.com/@hilton.