Marriott Tops Q4 Earnings & Sales Projections

Marriott International, Inc. (MAR – Free Report) just released its fourth-quarter and full year 2017 financial results, posting adjusted earnings of $1.12 per share and revenues of $5.88 billion. Currently, Marriott is a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and is down marginally to $142  per share in after-hours trading shortly after its earnings report was released.

Marriott:

Beat earnings estimates. The company posted adjusted earnings of $1.12 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.00 per share.

Beat revenue estimates. The company saw revenue figures of, topping our consensus estimate of $5.63 billion.

Marriott’s revenues jumped 8% from the year-ago period. On top of that, the resort giant’s adjusted earnings surged 32% year-over-year. For full-year 2017, Marriott noted that it repurchased 29.2 million shares of common stock.

Bethesda, Maryland-based company now expects to post full-year 2018 earnings between $5.11 per share and $5.34 per share. “As a result of U.S. tax reform, we expect our effective tax rate in 2018 will decline meaningfully to approximately 22 percent,” CEO Arne Sorenson said in a statement.

“Not including incremental asset sales, we expect to return roughly $2.5 billion to shareholders in share repurchases and dividends in 2018.”

Here’s a graph that looks at Marriott’s Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise history:

Marriott International Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Marriott International Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Marriott International Quote

Marriott International, Inc. operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Ramada International brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club International, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Marriott Grand Residence Club brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers.