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what it is
Host Hotels owns high-end hotels and collects money when business travelers, tourists, and conference groups book rooms.
how it gets paid
Last year Host Hotels made $6.1B in revenue. Luxury hotel stays was the main engine at $2.8B, or 46% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 7.6% last year. Latest-quarter revenue reached $4.5B, up 239% vs. prior year, according to the supplied filing data.
what just happened
Host posted $0.91 EPS in the latest quarter, while the last reported earnings release also beat estimates by 72.22%.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
20/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
17.3x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
4.8% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
8.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 57/100 — below average
What they do
Host Hotels owns high-end hotels and collects money when business travelers, tourists, and conference groups book rooms.
Scale matters here. Host owns 81 primarily luxury and upper-upscale hotels with about 43,400 rooms, making it the largest lodging REIT in the U.S. If your company wants a big convention hotel in a major market, these are hard assets in hard-to-replace locations, and that keeps occupancy and pricing power sturdier than a random hotel owner.
How they make money
$6.1B
annual revenue · their business grew +7.6% last year
Luxury hotel stays
$2.8B
Upper-upscale hotel stays
$2.0B
Food and beverage
$0.8B
Group and event services
$0.3B
Other hotel revenue
$0.2B
The products that matter
owns premium hotel real estate
Premium Hotel Portfolio
$6.1B revenue · 80 hotels
it's the whole business: 80 premium hotels generated the full $6.1B in revenue, so your investment case lives or dies on occupancy, room rates, and property-level margins.
100% of revenue
Key numbers
4.8%
dividend yield
Dividend yield → annual cash payout relative to the stock price → so what: you collect $4.80 a year for every $100 invested while you wait.
17.3x
trailing p/e
P/E → price compared with past 12 months of earnings → so what: you are paying a mid-range multiple for a cyclical hotel landlord.
14.0%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the hotels but before interest and taxes → so what: about $14 of every $100 in revenue becomes operating profit.
8.5%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on the money tied up in the business → so what: these properties are productive, but not wildly so.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 65 / 100
- net profit margin 13.6% — keeps 14 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 13% — $0.13 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in HST 3 years ago → it's now worth $12,750.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Host posted $0.91 EPS in the latest quarter, while the last reported earnings release also beat estimates by 72.22%.
Latest-quarter revenue reached $4.5B, up 239% vs. prior year, according to the supplied filing data. Quarterly EPS also jumped 296% vs. prior year, showing how hard hotel earnings can swing when demand improves.
$1.5B
revenue
$0.91
eps
+239%
revenue growth
the number that mattered
$4.5B in quarterly revenue matters most because hotel real estate works like a lever: when occupancy and rates improve, earnings can jump much faster than sales.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is corporate and group travel cooling while financing stays expensive.
med
travel demand softens
HST owns premium hotels, so the revenue base depends on people and companies still paying up for rooms in major markets. With $6.1B in annual revenue and only an 11.6% net margin, even modest demand pressure can show up fast in earnings.
If room demand slips, the $1.05 FY2026 EPS estimate likely moves lower and the yield story gets less comfortable.
med
higher-for-longer rates
This is a $13B hotel REIT with a 4.8% dividend yield. When rates stay high, financing costs rise and income investors can get paid elsewhere without taking hotel-cycle risk.
That puts pressure on both property values and the valuation multiple investors are willing to pay for HST.
med
the moat is real, but not magical
Times square and waikiki are good addresses. They are not immunity. Luxury and upscale lodging still competes on pricing, renovation spend, and local supply conditions.
If premium room rates stop carrying the portfolio, a 10% return on equity can compress quickly in a cyclical downturn.
You own a hotel REIT with $6.1B in revenue, an 11.6% net margin, and a 4.8% yield. That means you are exposed to both the travel cycle and the rate cycle at the same time.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
risk
FY2026 EPS estimate
It sits at $1.05 versus $1.08 for FY2025. If that estimate keeps drifting down, the income case gets thinner.
metric
revenue on the $6.1B base
The company grew revenue 7.6% last year. Watch whether that holds, stalls, or reverses on the next few reports.
calendar
next earnings release
You want to see whether quarterly EPS keeps sliding from the recent $0.35, $0.32, $0.23, $0.18 pattern or stabilizes.
trend
interest-rate direction
HST is not just a lodging stock. It is also a yield vehicle, so rate moves change both financing math and how attractive that 4.8% payout looks.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — the stock is behaving like the market, not like a name with a strong near-term signal.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — you are not in a bunker, but you are not in a rollercoaster either.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 — in human-speak, analysts think the chart still has some tailwind.
earnings predictability
20 / 100
The business is cyclical enough that earnings forecasts deserve a second look every quarter.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 295 buyers vs. 271 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.7B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$15
$27
$19
current price
$21
target midpoint · +13% from current · 3-5yr high: $25 (+35% · 11% ann'l return)
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