Marriott (NASDAQ: MAR) raises its RevPAR outlook after Adjusted EBITDA jumps 12%

What happened

Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) lifted its 2026 RevPAR growth outlook to 4.5% to 5% after third-quarter Adjusted EBITDA reached $1.51 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA was up $163 million, or 12%, from $1.35 billion in the third quarter of 2025. Reported net income rose 9% to $794 million from $728 million. Reported diluted EPS reached $3.04 against $2.67.

Worldwide RevPAR, or revenue per available room, rose 6.5% in constant dollars. The U.S. and Canada led at 7.4%, and international markets rose 4.4%. The company said higher average daily rate and occupancy drove the gain.

Key numbers

Metric	Latest	Change	Source
Adjusted EBITDA, third quarter	$1.51 billion	from $1.35 billion, +12%	SEC 8-K earnings release
Worldwide RevPAR growth, third quarter	6.5%		SEC 8-K earnings release
Reported diluted EPS, third quarter	$3.04	from $2.67, +14%	SEC 8-K earnings release
Adjusted diluted EPS, third quarter	$3.02	from $2.47, +22%	SEC 8-K earnings release
Franchise and base management fees, third quarter	$1.34 billion	from $1.19 billion, +13%	SEC 8-K earnings release
Credit facility size (was $4.5 billion before refinancing)	$5.0 billion		SEC 8-K earnings release

Read more: Marriott International (MAR) company research

Where the growth came from

Fee lines led the quarter. Franchise and base management fees totaled $1.34 billion, up 13% from $1.19 billion a year earlier. The filing credits mainly higher co-branded credit card fees, higher RevPAR and rooms growth. Incentive management fees rose 22% to $181 million from $148 million, with all regions positive.

Marriott added roughly 20,100 net rooms in the quarter. Net rooms grew 4.6% from the end of the third quarter of 2025. The development pipeline totaled 4,209 properties and more than 634,000 rooms, which the company calls a new record. Of those rooms, 44% are under construction, including hotels pending conversion.

Owned and leased hotels were the weak spot. Owned, leased and other revenue, net of expense, fell to $41 million from $70 million. The company cited renovations, its second-quarter sale of a U.S. and Canada hotel and higher costs tied to a third-party agreement. A $12 million expected insurance recovery tied to a second-quarter property-related litigation matter partly offset the decline.

In EMEA, the ongoing Middle East conflict kept weighing on results. The company said trends improved meaningfully from the second quarter.

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Why it matters

OptimistFi has argued that Marriott's asset-light platform turns scale, loyalty and fee contracts into recurring revenue. The quarter fits that view. Adjusted operating income rose to $1.27 billion from $1.12 billion. The adjusted operating income margin, which excludes cost reimbursement revenue, edged up to 66% from 65%.

Per-share results grew faster than profit. Reported diluted EPS rose 14% against 9% for net income. The diluted share count fell to 261.2 million from 272.5 million. Adjusted diluted EPS reached $3.02 against $2.47 a year earlier.

One quarter does not prove durability. Net interest expense rose to $219 million from $194 million, which the filing ties mainly to higher debt balances. Adjusted measures also exclude cost reimbursement revenue, reimbursed expenses and certain impairment charges, so they differ from reported results.

Debt, buybacks and the credit facility

Total debt stood at $16.8 billion at quarter-end, up from $16.2 billion at year-end 2025. Cash was $0.5 billion against $0.4 billion. In the quarter, Marriott issued $250 million of Series NN Senior Notes due in 2029 at a 4.875% coupon and $1.0 billion of Series YY Senior Notes due in 2036 at 5.650%.

The company also completed refinancing its credit facility. The maturity moved to September 2031 and the facility grew from $4.5 billion to $5.0 billion.

Marriott repurchased 3.5 million shares for $1.3 billion in the quarter. Through Oct. 28 it has bought back 9.6 million shares for $3.4 billion. It has returned approximately $4.0 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. Its 2026 outlook assumes a capital return of at least $4.8 billion.

What's next

The next test is Marriott's fourth-quarter report. The company guides fourth-quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $1.57 billion to $1.6 billion and Adjusted diluted EPS of $3.14 to $3.21. For the full year it guides Adjusted EBITDA of $6.08 billion to $6.1 billion. It expects year-end net rooms growth at the low end of 4.5% to 5%.

The outlook assumes a planned U.S. and Canada hotel sale in the fourth quarter. Results inside or above those ranges would back the raised RevPAR outlook. A miss would put the fee-led growth story to a harder test.

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