Hilton tops Street 3Q forecasts, boosts outlook

Hilton reported better-than-expected third-quarter results and boosted its outlook on an increase in travelers and rates.

The McLean, Virginia company also reported a 1.3 percent boost in revenue per room, which is a key measure for the industry. It expects that figure to rise between 1 percent and 3 percent overall in 2017.

The hotelier's profit fell 4.3 percent to $179 million or 55 cents per share on higher costs. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 56 cents per share and revenue surged 26 percent to $2.35 billion.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 50 cents per share, while four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.27 billion in revenue.

The company also approved 23,400 new rooms during the quarter and said its development pipeline now spans 13 more countries, bringing its reach to 104 countries and territories.

For the current quarter ending in December, Worldwide Holdings Inc. expects its per-share earnings to range from 41 cents to 45 cents, up from a prior range of 47 cents to 51 cents per share.

The company expects full-year earnings in the range of $1.87 to $1.91 per share, up from a prior range of $1.78 to $1.85 per share.

Hilton shares have decreased 13 percent since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed almost 5 percent in the last 12 months.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HLT at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HLT