Hotel stocks fell month over month in March for the first time in five months.
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 — fell 4% in March, its first decline since October.
The S&P 500 — an indicator of the health of the broader economy — dropped 5.1% during the month.
Year to date, the Baird Hotel Stock Index is up 3.3%, while the S&P 500 is down 4.6%.
“Hotel stocks declined in March due to a broader market pullback on the heels of the war in Iran and higher energy prices; however, both the global hotel brands and hotel REITs outperformed their respective benchmarks,” said Michael Bellisario, senior research analyst and managing director at Baird. “Hotel stocks were surprisingly resilient in the face of heightened macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, but industry-wide RevPAR growth has been stronger than expected all year – even before comparisons become much easier in the coming months – which was the driver of both hotel sub-sectors’ relative outperformance in March.”
The RMZ, or MSCI U.S. REIT Index — which is a gauge of the overall real estate investment market — fell 6.4% in March.
The hotel brand sub-index declined 4% in March, while the hotel REIT sub-index dropped by 4.2%.
Month over month, Chatham Lodging Trust's stock price rose 2.1%, leading all other hotel companies in March. Braemar Hotels & Resorts' stock declined 18.9% from February, which was the biggest loss month over month.
Year over year, Marriott International's stock jumped 37.3% in March, followed by Host Hotels & Resorts (+34.8%) and Hilton (+33.6%). On the other end, Ashford Hospitality Trust's stock fell 61.8% compared to March 2025.
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.