Stock prices for the hotel industry's public companies ended 2025 in the black.
The Baird Hotel Stock Index — which comprises 20 of the largest hotel brand companies and real estate investment trusts publicly traded on a U.S. stock exchange by market capitalization — rose 1.2% in December, its second straight month of growth.
The index's percent change from month to month was split with six months of growth (January, May, June, August, November and December) and six months of contraction (February, March, April, July, September and October).
The Hotel Stock Index ended 2025 up 6% year to date.
The S&P 500 — an indicator of the health of the broader economy — was mostly flat (-0.1%) in December but ended 2025 up 16.4% year to date.
“Hotel stocks finished the year with mixed performance in December, but both sub-indices relatively outperformed their respective benchmarks,” said Michael Bellisario, senior research analyst and managing director at Baird. “Numerous demand headwinds negatively impacted RevPAR growth throughout 2025, which weighed on investor sentiment and stock performance. For the full year, the global hotel brands gained 9% but underperformed the S&P 500 by 725 basis points; the hotel REITs declined 10% and lagged the RMZ by more than 900 basis points.
“Looking to 2026, investors remain optimistic that fundamental performance will improve given more favorable holiday timing, forthcoming economic stimulus and a robust special events calendar, including FIFA World Cup 2026.”
The RMZ, or MSCI U.S. REIT Index — which is a gauge of the overall real estate investment market — fell 3% in December. The RMZ finished the year down 1.2% year to date.
The hotel brand sub-index rose 1.5% in December, while the hotel REIT sub-index dipped 0.7% during the month.
Month over month, Ashford Hospitality Trust's stock rose 20.3% in December. Conversely, Summit Hotel Properties reported its stock was down 9.1% from November.
Year over year, Hilton's stock jumped 16.2% in December, followed by IHG Hotels & Resorts (+12.7%) and Marriott International (+11.2%). Ashford Hospitality Trust reported the biggest year-over-year stock decline at 40.8%, followed by Choice Hotels International, which was down 32.9%.
For more information about the Hotel Stock Index, email hotelstockindex@rwbaird.com. The Baird Hotel Stock Index and sub-indices are available exclusively on CoStar News Hotels. The indices were created by Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird). The market-cap-weighted, price-only indices comprise 20 of the largest market-capitalization hotel companies publicly traded on a U.S. exchange and attempt to characterize the performance of hotel stocks. The Index and sub-indices are maintained by Baird and hosted on Hotel News Now, are not actively managed, and no direct investment can be made in them. As of 30 June 2021, the companies that comprised the Baird Hotel Stock Index included: Apple Hospitality REIT, Ashford Hospitality Trust, Chatham Lodging Trust, Choice Hotels International, DiamondRock Hospitality Company, Hersha Hospitality Trust, Hilton Inc., Host Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International, Park Hotels & Resorts, Inc., Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, Ryman Hospitality Properties, Service Properties Trust, Summit Hotel Properties, Sunstone Hotel Investors, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, and Xenia Hotels & Resorts.