Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) held its second-quarter earnings call on August 6, and the numbers gave management enough confidence to raise full-year guidance by more than expected. Comparable hotel RevPAR climbed 7% to $251.53 in the quarter, and CEO James Risoleo pointed to luxury resort demand and a run of high-profile events as the drivers. That combination pushed the company to lift its 2026 RevPAR growth range by 125 basis points at the midpoint, to 4.75% to 5.25%.
Bull Case: Luxury Travelers Are Still Spending Freely
Every demand segment moved in the same direction. Transient revenue rose 6.9% to $559 million, the strongest growth in seven quarters, while group room revenue grew 7.4% to $332 million on a sellout of 1.1 million room nights. The World Cup added roughly 160 basis points to second-quarter RevPAR growth, and RevPAR in World Cup host markets jumped 15% in June against 12% elsewhere. Maui kept recovering too, with RevPAR up 14% and occupancy up more than 8 percentage points, and golf revenue there now sits 9% ahead of levels seen before the wildfires.
Behind the quarter sits a longer bet on renovated properties. Host Hotels has poured about $2.1 billion into 34 hotels across its Marriott and Hyatt portfolios, a program expected to generate 60% of hotel EBITDA in 2026, and the 21 properties already stabilized have gained roughly 9 points of RevPAR index share on average. That reinvestment, plus a $500 million gain from selling its Four Seasons resorts, funded a $0.72 per share special dividend in July on top of the regular $0.20 payout, all while leverage held at 2.2 times.
Bear Case: The Easy Comparisons Are Running Out
CFO Sourav Ghosh was direct about what comes next, saying the company expects margin comparisons to moderate in the second half largely because rate growth will not repeat at the same pace. Much of the first half’s strength leaned on tailwinds that fade as the year goes on, including the World Cup and a busy events calendar.
Costs are creeping in from other directions too. A Kona low rainstorm in Hawaii is expected to cause $27 million to $32 million in property damage, and while insurance should cover most of it, remediation alone runs about $2 million. The Four Seasons condo development at Walt Disney World, with 28 of 40 units closed, saw its 2026 EBITDA guidance trimmed to $16 million to $20 million from $20 million to $25 million purely on closing timing. Wage rates are still climbing 5% for the year, and labor makes up about half of total hotel operating expenses.
Where Wall Street Money Stands
Hedge fund ownership in Host climbed from 38 funds to 41 in the most recent quarter, a modest sign of accumulating conviction. Short interest sits at 8.91% of the float, high enough to suggest a real bear camp has formed around the stock. As of August 14, shares trade at a forward P/E of 23.58, a premium that assumes the RevPAR strength seen in the first half continues rather than fades.
What Happens Next
Host Hotels enters the second half of 2026 with real momentum and a balance sheet strong enough to keep funding both renovations and dividends. Management itself is signaling that the tailwinds behind that momentum, from World Cup matches to easy comparisons, are already fading. The renovation program’s track record of stabilized RevPAR share gains argues for demand that outlasts any single event calendar.
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of HST as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than HST and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 10 Best Future Stocks to Buy Under $10 and 12 Best Performing Semiconductor Stocks to Invest In.
Disclosure: None. Follow Insider Monkey on Google News.
