Preliminary brief— based on press release only. Full analysis including management tone and Q&A will be added when the transcript is available.

HST · Q1 2026 Earnings

Host Hotels & Resorts

Reported May 6, 2026

30-second summary

Host opened 2026 with comparable RevPAR of $244.11 (Q1 only — well above the FY guide range), a 32.7% comparable hotel EBITDA margin, and used the strength to raise FY26 RevPAR guidance by 100–150bps to 3.0–4.5%, lift Adjusted EBITDAre midpoint by $40M to $1,810M, and flip the comparable hotel EBITDA margin guide from "-20 to +20bps" to a clean +30bps versus 2025. San Francisco/San Jose revenue grew 21.4%, Miami 16.5%, and management quantified a 60bps gross World Cup tailwind that was previously qualitative — this is a clean across-the-board raise on the first guide refresh of the year, with the Q1 EBITDA margin print sitting comfortably above the new FY band.

Headline numbers

Revenue

Q1 FY2026

$1.64B

+3.2% YoY

Key financials

Q1 FY2026

Metric	Q1 FY2026	YoY
Revenue	$1.64B	+3.2%

Guidance

Host Hotels raised FY2026 RevPAR growth guidance by 100-150 bps to 3.0-4.5%, lifted Adjusted EBITDAre midpoint $40M to $1,810M, and improved EBITDA margin outlook to +30 bps vs 2025, driven by stronger near-term trends and World Cup demand tailwinds.

Guidance is issued for the full year only, refreshed each quarter. Prior and new below are the same FY updated this quarter.

New guidance

Metric	Period	Guide	YoY
Comparable Hotel RevPAR Growth	Q2 FY2026	Similar to Q1 (with World Cup benefit)	—
Comparable Hotel RevPAR Growth	Q2 FY2026	Approximately 4.4% year over year (April)	+4.4% YoY

Changes to prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	New guide	Δ	Result
Comparable Hotel RevPAR Growth	FY 2026	2.0% to 3.5%	3.0% to 4.5%	+100 to +150 bps at both ends	Raised
Comparable Hotel Total RevPAR Growth	FY 2026	2.5% to 4.0%	3.5% to 5.0%	+100 to +150 bps at both ends	Raised
Comparable Hotel EBITDA Margin	FY 2026	-20 to +20 bps vs 2025	29.5% (up 30 bps vs 2025)	+30 bps vs 2025 (high end of prior range was +20 bps)	Raised
Adjusted EBITDAre	FY 2026	$1,770 million (midpoint)	$1,810 million (midpoint)	+$40 million (+2.3%)	Raised
Capital Expenditures	FY 2026	$525 to $625 million	$545 to $655 million	+$20 million at low end, +$30 million at high end	Raised

Reaffirmed unchanged this quarter: Wage Rate Increase Expected (Approximately 5%), Maui EBITDA Contribution (Approximately $120 million)

Other KPIs

Q1 FY2026

Segment	Q1 FY2026	YoY
Miami	$0.103B	+16.5%
Florida Gulf Coast	$0.159B	+4.9%
Maui	$0.114B	+1.6%
Phoenix	$0.13B	+5.0%
New York	$0.102B	+9.3%
San Francisco/San Jose	$0.13B	+21.4%
San Diego	$0.137B	+6.9%
Orlando	$0.092B	+4.1%
Comparable Hotel RevPAR	$244.11	—
Comparable Hotel ADR	$347.24	—
Comparable Hotel Occupancy	70.3%	—
Hotel EBITDA	$504.6M	—
Comparable Hotel EBITDA Margin	32.7%	—
Number of Comparable Hotels	74	—
Total Rooms (Comparable)	40,974	—
Leverage Ratio	2.1x	—

Management tone

Q2-25 (defensive binary framing) → Q3-25 (assertive guide raise) → Q4-25 (decisive capital return) → Q1-26 (margin upside crystallized)

The most consequential tone shift is on margins. Three quarters ago management framed comparable hotel EBITDA margin as a 60–90bps decline; Q4 narrowed it to a -20 to +20bps band, signalling wage inflation would cap operating leverage even on a strong RevPAR print. This quarter management commits to a clean +30bps expansion while reaffirming the 5% wage assumption, anchored by the disclosure that "absolute wage and benefit growth was only 4.5%" — productivity is delivering more flow-through than the prior guide allowed. The structural margin call that bears were leaning on after Q4 has been retired in a single quarter.

The San Francisco narrative has fully inverted. Q2's framing was cautious recovery, Q3 was group pace +20% as a forward indicator, Q4 delivered +29.7% revenue growth, and this quarter management labels it "a boom loop as opposed to a gloom loop" alongside a 26% RevPAR print. This is no longer a recovery story; it's an acceleration story, with AI-driven office fundamentals cited as the underlying driver.

World Cup commentary has hardened from qualitative tailwind to quantified base case. Q4 telegraphed a 60bps gross contribution; this quarter management anchors it to historical Russia and Qatar booking patterns — "40% of the occupancy from the World Cup is actually booked in that last week. And that is in line with the World Cup occupancy bill that we have from stats that we got from the last World Cup in Russia and Qatar." The booking-window risk that bears would have raised is pre-empted with historical comparables.

Capital allocation discipline sharpened again. Q4 telegraphed dispositions over acquisitions; this quarter management goes further: "The pricing guide is pretty high. It's a bar that we're not able to reach... given the uncertain macro picture, I think discipline matters more than activity at this stage of the cycle." The transformational renovation track record (Marriott Marquis from $65M EBITDA in 2018 to $100M in 2025 on $100M of capex) is doing the work that an acquisition would do in a different cycle posture.

Maui's framing softened in tone even as the EBITDA contribution was reaffirmed. Management noted "when you're looking at Maui RevPAR in the low single digits that would have been in the high single digits" — i.e., Q1 RevPAR of +1.6% would have been mid-to-high single digits absent weather and Easter timing. Maintaining the $120M guide on softer-than-expected Q1 rate is a confidence signal on H2 group pace, not Q1 strength.

Recurring themes management leaned on this quarter:

Capital allocation discipline and shareholder returns through dividends, buybacks, and special dividendsTransformational renovation ROI — $2.1B invested with mid-teens cash-on-cash returns and 9-point REVPAR index gainsAffluent consumer resilience and preference for U.S. luxury destinations over international travelStrong resort performance driven by leisure transient demand, special events (World Cup, Super Bowl), and rate growthProductivity-driven margin expansion through labor management systems and operator partnershipSan Francisco market recovery acceleration and AI-driven office fundamentals improvement

Risks management surfaced:

Weather impacts on Hawaii operations and Easter/spring break timing compression effectsMacro uncertainty and acquisition pricing bar too high to justify transactionsInternational inbound travel not yet recovered to balanced pre-COVID levelsGovernment transient demand still below pre-pandemic levelsSecond half rate deceleration expected as resort high season (Q1) normalizes

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Special dividend confirmation and size. Not addressed in the available materials; the supplemental focuses on operating guidance and the $1.1B Four Seasons sale completion timing. No dividend or buyback announcement in this quarter's print.

Continue monitoring

Q1 2026 comparable hotel EBITDA margin vs the -20 to +20bps full-year band. Q1 comparable hotel EBITDA margin printed 32.7% — well above the FY band's reference base. More importantly, management raised the FY guide to +30bps (29.5% vs 29.2% prior-year base), exceeding the prior high-end ceiling. Absolute wage and benefit growth ran at 4.5% versus the 5% rate assumption, with productivity bridging the gap.

Resolved positively

Maui group room nights actualizing vs +10-11.5% pacing. Maui Q1 revenue grew only 1.6% — softer than the trajectory implied by Q4 group pacing. Management reaffirmed the $120M FY EBITDA contribution, implying H2 acceleration to deliver. The Hyatt Regency Maui $34M target was not refreshed in the available materials.

Continue monitoring

MTCP2 property-level disruption disclosure. Not detailed in the available materials. CapEx range was widened upward to $545M–$655M (from $525M–$625M), indicating increased capital deployment confidence, but property-level disruption windows for the MTCP2 program remain undisclosed at the quarterly cadence level.

Continue monitoring

San Diego trajectory. Resolved decisively: San Diego Q1 revenue grew +6.9% YoY, a 13-point swing from Q4's -6.8%. The market has stabilized faster than the Q4 brief flagged, which removes the structural-headwind read on the broader headwind-market list.

Resolved positively

What to watch into next quarter

Q2 RevPAR delivery vs the "similar to Q1" guide with World Cup overlay. April at +4.4% is consistent with the new FY range; watch whether May/June actualization extends or whether the 60bps gross World Cup contribution arrives late in the booking window as management modelled. A Q2 print below +3.5% would imply the FY raise to 3.0–4.5% is biased toward the low end.

Margin flow-through sustainability. Q1 EBITDA margin of 32.7% sits well above the 29.5% FY guide on seasonal mix, but the FY +30bps commitment requires the productivity narrative (4.5% absolute wage growth vs 5% rate assumption) to hold through H2. Watch Q2 commentary for whether productivity gains are pulling forward or are durable.

Maui H2 group materialization. Q1 Maui RevPAR at +1.6% is softer than the +10–11.5% Hyatt Regency Maui pacing implied at Q4. Reaffirming $120M FY EBITDA requires H2 acceleration. Watch Q2 for whether group pace is converting to room nights and rate, or whether the $120M reaffirmation is at risk.

Capital return announcement. No special dividend or buyback update in the Q1 print despite the $1.1B Four Seasons proceeds. The 45-day reverse like-kind exchange window from Q4 has lapsed; watch Q2 for either a dividend confirmation or a redeployment surprise.

CapEx range expansion and MTCP2 property cadence. The $20–30M upward shift in CapEx range with no commentary on which properties are absorbing the increase leaves modeling cadence open. Watch Q2 for property-level disruption windows on the named MTCP2 starts (New Orleans Marriott in progress, Ritz-Carlton Naples Tiburón Q2 start).

Sources

Host Hotels & Resorts Q1-2026 Supplemental Financial Information — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1070750/000107075026000077/hst-supplementalfinanciali.htm
Host Hotels & Resorts Q1-2026 earnings prepared remarks (transcript fragments)
Host Hotels & Resorts Q4-2025 brief (Tapebrief, prior-quarter baseline)
Host Hotels & Resorts Q3-2025 brief (Tapebrief, two-quarter-back baseline)
Host Hotels & Resorts Q2-2025 brief (Tapebrief, three-quarter-back baseline)

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