Hilton Worldwide updates on record-setting quarter for room growth

Hilton Worldwide Holdings (NYSE:HLT) announced that it ended 2023 with the strongest development quarter in its history by opening a record number of new rooms. The hotel operator opened 132 hotels and approximately 24,000 rooms between October and December. For the full year, Hilton (HLT) had full-year openings of 395 hotels and added approximately 63,000 rooms to achieve net unit growth of 4.9%. Hilton (HLT) also continued to strengthen its development pipeline with record 2023 signings of nearly 1,000 hotels representing 130,000 rooms, up 45% from the prior year and meaningfully ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

Hilton (HLT) noted that its pipeline is now the largest in its history with nearly 3,300 hotels and more than 462,000 rooms. In addition, Hilton (HLT) highlighted that it now has more new rooms under construction than any other hotel company with approximately one in every five hotel rooms under construction globally slated to join the company’s portfolio.

CEO update: "Premium products and exceptional levels of service are driving strong customer demand for our hotels around the world, while better returns are supporting strong owner interest. We continue to feel very good about our prior net unit growth guidance of 5.5% to 6.0% in 2024, with strong indications towards the higher end of the range based on the positive momentum we are seeing in signings and construction starts."

Hilton ended 2023 with more than 7,500 properties in 126 countries and territories. As for traffic, HLT said it had more than 213M travelers staying at Hilton properties around the world. Hilton Honors ended the year with record membership of more than 180M members.

Shares of Hilton Worldwide (HLT) edge 0.50% higher in premarket action on Monday to trade at a new 52-week high. Hilton (HLT) will release its Q4 earnings report on February 7.