In the face of widespread uncertainty in the economy, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts executives voiced their optimism in the company's position to weather any potential oncoming storms.
During Wyndham's first-quarter 2025 earnings call, President and CEO Geoff Ballotti said recent trends have been more encouraging after some softening in hotel demand over the past few months.
Wyndham's select-service model and its focus on essential blue-collar workers who will continue to book group travel positions the company well in any period of economic uncertainty, he said.
"Whatever demand scenario may transpire, our brands have always outperformed in periods of economic downturn relative to the overall industry," Ballotti said.
Wyndham also doesn't feel as big of an impact from international inbound demand declines, as less than 3% of its bookings in the U.S. arrive from out of the country, he said. Less than 2% of that travel demand comes from Canada.
While tariffs enacted and delayed by the Trump administration has led to some softening in consumer sentiment and a lot of questions in terms of economic stability, Ballotti said Wyndham's existing system and pipeline of select-service and extended-stay hotels are located in regions where demand is growing.
"Whether it's in markets driven by the onshoring that new tariffs are creating, whether it's in markets that are beginning to benefit from large infrastructure projects that are finally beginning to break ground from the federal infrastructure bill — where allocations are ramping — or whether it's from new private sector investments in large data center projects across the country, Wyndham's portfolio is well-positioned to serve the everyday travel that these markets will benefit from in the decade ahead," he said.
Wyndham opened 15,000 rooms in the first quarter, a 13% year-over-year increase and a record amount for the quarter. The brand also signed 6% more deals in the quarter compared to last year, expanding its pipeline for the 19th consecutive quarter to an all-time high for 254,000 rooms.
Update on full-year outlook
Due to a softer-than-expected revenue per available room environment from March and April, Wyndham has lowered its full-year outlook on most key metrics.
The company's 2025 global RevPAR outlook now ranges from being down 2% to up 1% after previously being estimated to be between up 2% and 3%.
Michele Allen, chief financial officer at Wyndham, said the high end of the range assumes the nine months following the first quarter fall in line with the brand's original outlook, which would imply a swift resolution to global trade tensions and an improvement in consumer sentiment. The lower end of the range reflects performance consistent with the trends from the past few months continuing.
"We believe this new guidance is a reasonable lower bound for planning purposes, wider than what we typically provide, but a prudent response in today's volatile macro environment," she said.
Wyndham's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is now projected to be between $730 million and $745 million, down from a projection of between $745 million and $755 million.
Its adjusted net income is projected to be between $358 million and $372 million, down from a projection of between $369 million and $379 million.
By the numbers
Across its global hotel portfolio, Wyndham achieved RevPAR of $36.13 in the first quarter, a 2% increase compared to the first quarter of 2024. International or non-U.S. RevPAR grew 3% year over year in the quarter to $28.73, while U.S. RevPAR increased 2% to $42.37 in the quarter.
Wyndham’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $145 million in the first quarter, up 3% compared to the same quarter last year. Its net revenues for the quarter were $316 million, up from $305 million compared to last year.
The company’s net income for the first quarter was $61 million, up from $16 million in the same quarter last year.
As of press time, Wyndham’s stock price was trading at $85.77 per share, down 15% year to date. The New York Stock Exchange Composite Index was up 0.3% for the same time period.