Global hospitality company Marriott (NASDAQ: MAR) met Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025, with sales up 4.1% year on year to $6.69 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $2.58 per share was 1.5% below analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Marriott (MAR) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $6.69 billion vs analyst estimates of $6.69 billion (4.1% year-on-year growth, in line)
- Adjusted EPS: $2.58 vs analyst expectations of $2.62 (1.5% miss)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $1.40 billion vs analyst estimates of $1.39 billion (21% margin, 0.9% beat)
- Adjusted EPS guidance for the upcoming financial year 2026 is $11.45 at the midpoint, in line with analyst estimates
- EBITDA guidance for the upcoming financial year 2026 is $5.89 billion at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $5.72 billion
- Operating Margin: 11.6%, in line with the same quarter last year
- RevPAR: $182.43 at quarter end, up 44.7% year on year
- Market Capitalization: $88.88 billion
Company Overview
Founded by J. Willard Marriott in 1927, Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) is a global hospitality company with a portfolio of over 7,000 properties and 30 brands, spanning 130+ countries and territories.
Revenue Growth
Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Over the last five years, Marriott grew its sales at a 19.9% compounded annual growth rate. Although this growth is acceptable on an absolute basis, it fell slightly short of our standards for the consumer discretionary sector, which enjoys a number of secular tailwinds.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within consumer discretionary, a stretched historical view may miss a company riding a successful new property or trend. Marriott’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed as its annualized revenue growth of 5.1% over the last two years was below its five-year trend. 
Marriott also reports revenue per available room, which clocked in at $182.43 this quarter and is a key metric accounting for daily rates and occupancy levels. Over the last two years, Marriott’s revenue per room averaged 6.2% year-on-year growth. This number doesn’t surprise us as it’s in line with its revenue growth. 
This quarter, Marriott grew its revenue by 4.1% year on year, and its $6.69 billion of revenue was in line with Wall Street’s estimates.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 5.5% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. This projection doesn't excite us and implies its newer products and services will not accelerate its top-line performance yet.
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Operating Margin
Marriott’s operating margin might fluctuated slightly over the last 12 months but has generally stayed the same, averaging 15.4% over the last two years. This profitability was inadequate for a consumer discretionary business and caused by its suboptimal cost structure.
This quarter, Marriott generated an operating margin profit margin of 11.6%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.
Earnings Per Share
We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.
Marriott’s full-year EPS flipped from negative to positive over the last five years. This is encouraging and shows it’s at a critical moment in its life.
In Q4, Marriott reported adjusted EPS of $2.58, up from $2.45 in the same quarter last year. Despite growing year on year, this print slightly missed analysts’ estimates, but we care more about long-term adjusted EPS growth than short-term movements. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Marriott’s full-year EPS of $10.02 to grow 13.6%.
Key Takeaways from Marriott’s Q4 Results
It was encouraging to see Marriott’s full-year EBITDA guidance beat analysts’ expectations. We were also glad its EBITDA guidance for next quarter slightly exceeded Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its EPS missed. Zooming out, we think this was a mixed quarter. The stock traded up 3.4% to $342.47 immediately after reporting.
Should you buy the stock or not? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
