Hilton Reports Q3 2026 Earnings: RevPAR Up 5.8%, Adjusted EBITDA Reaches $1.06B, Transferring to Nasdaq

Executive Summary

On October 27, 2026, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) furnished a Current Report on Form 8-K under Item 2.02 detailing its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2026. The company delivered strong top- and bottom-line performance, driven by robust leisure and business demand, achieving RevPAR growth of 5.8% and reporting an adjusted diluted EPS of $2.45, ahead of prior-year comparisons.

Key Financial Highlights

• Revenues & Fees:
  • Franchise and licensing fees grew 10.3% YoY to $815 million.
  • Base and other management fees rose to $96 million from $93 million in Q3 2025.
  • Incentive management fees increased to $71 million from $65 million.
  • Total management and franchise fee revenues grew 9.5% YoY.
  • Total revenues stood at $3,325 million compared to $3,120 million in Q3 2025.
• Profitability:
  • Net Income: $536 million for the quarter, compared to $421 million in Q3 2025.
  • Diluted EPS: $2.37 (up from $1.78 in Q3 2025).
  • Adjusted Diluted EPS: $2.45 (up from $2.11 in Q3 2025).
  • Adjusted EBITDA: $1,058 million, an 8.4% increase compared to $976 million in the prior-year period.

Operational & Development Performance

• RevPAR: System-wide comparable RevPAR grew 5.8% YoY on a currency-neutral basis, driven by balanced gains in both average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy.
• Room Additions & Unit Growth:
  • Opened 182 hotels totaling 27,000 rooms during the quarter, generating 23,000 net room additions (up 6.5% sequentially from Q2 2026).
  • Net unit growth was 6.0% YoY.
• Development Pipeline: Approved 30,500 new rooms, expanding the pipeline to 543,100 rooms across 3,869 properties (+5% YoY), with approximately half under active construction and over half outside the United States.

Capital Return and Balance Sheet

• Share Repurchases & Dividends:
  • Repurchased 2.6 million shares in Q3 at an average price of $320.05 ($845 million).
  • Distributed $34 million in dividends ($0.15 per share) in September 2026; a fourth-quarter dividend of $0.15 per share was authorized for payment on December 29, 2026.
  • Total capital return reached $879 million for Q3 and $2,902 million year-to-date through October.
• Liquidity & Debt Profile:
  • Total debt outstanding stood at $13.5 billion ($13.1 billion excluding finance lease liabilities) with a weighted average interest rate of 5.10%.
  • No material debt maturities until April 2029, except for $600 million of Senior Notes maturing in April 2027.
  • Available liquidity was approximately $2.72 billion ($1.894 billion undrawn revolver capacity and $830 million cash and equivalents).

Strategic Announcements & Guidance

• Listing Transfer: Hilton announced it will transfer its primary stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq, effective November 5, 2026, retaining ticker symbol "HLT".
• Management Addition: Jeff Moore was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer.
• Full Year 2026 Outlook:
  • System-wide RevPAR Growth: 4.0% to 4.5%.
  • Net Income: $1,909 million to $1,923 million.
  • Adjusted EBITDA: $4,060 million to $4,080 million.
  • Adjusted Diluted EPS: $9.07 to $9.13.
  • Capital Return: Projected at approximately $3.5 billion.
  • Net Unit Growth: Expected around the midpoint of 6.0% to 7.0%.