Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc.'s (HOT) second quarter earnings of $0.22 per share, were seven cents ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate, driven by the cost reduction initiatives implemented by the company. However, revenues were down in the quarter and the company’s guidance is below our consensus estimate. EPS from continuing operations was $0.22, excluding special items, compared to $0.56 in the year-ago period. Income from continuing operations, excluding special items, was $41 million, versus $107 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA was $200 million, versus $299 million the year-ago period. The lower results stemmed from significant deterioration in revenue per available room (RevPAR). Worldwide system-wide same-store RevPAR was down 27.7% in the quarter compared to the year-ago period. System-wide same-store RevPAR in North America was down 25.4% year-over-year. Management and franchise revenues were down 18.0% year-over-year. Margins were also restricted as a ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 20, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights IBM Corporation (IBM) as the Bull of the Day and Marriott International (MAR ) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

As a result of its large non-US revenue base, IBM Corporation (IBM) has been better insulated from the recent weakness in the U.S. economy than many of its peers. IBM reported strong 2Q09 results ahead of our and Wall Street expectations.

Profitability in the quarter was fueled by higher gross profit margins as IBM shifted to high-margin software and services business. The company

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On July 16, Bethesda, MD-based hotelier Marriott International (MAR) reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2009. Total revenue was $2.6 billion, down 19.6% versus the prior year period. Marriott experienced worldwide declines in revenue per available room (RevPAR) across all its brands. RevPAR is a key metric for the lodging industry. Base management and franchise fees declined 19%, while incentive management fees were down 66% from the prior year. Owned, leased, corporate housing and other revenue decreased 54%, while adjusted timeshare sales and services revenue declined 24%. Worldwide comparable company-operated properties RevPAR decreased 26.1% (23.0% on a constant-dollar basis), while worldwide system-wide RevPAR fell 23.6% (21.4% on a constant-dollar basis). International company-operated RevPAR fell 31.5% (22.1% on a constant-dollar basis) including a 22.3% decline in average daily rate (11.6% using a constant-dollar basis). The results reflected the economic recession in addition to ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - July 6, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Starwood Hotels (HOT), Marriott International (MAR), American Public Education (APEI), Strayer Education (STRA) and Devry Inc. (DV).

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Here are highlights from Friday's Analyst Blog:

Hotel Metrics Stay Down

We have been negative on the lodging sector for months, as we have maintained that investors have been too optimistic regarding the chances for a second-half recovery in the group.

Earlier this week, an analyst at a major Wall Street

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Hotel Metrics Down, Others Finally Catching On The second quarter of 2009 proved to be even more challenging than the first for hotel companies in the United States. And as it becomes increasingly clear that a recovery in the industry isn’t likely to happen any time in the near term, others on Wall Street have begun to change their outlooks. After declining 19.0% in the first quarter of the year, weekly average revenue per available room, or RevPAR, declined 20.1% in the second quarter. Looking at the composition of these numbers, however, we see that the damage to the businesses was even greater than the 110 basis point change. Average weekly occupancy declined 11.6% in the second quarter, compared to a decline of 12.5% year-over-year in the first quarter. However, hoteliers began cutting room rates more substantially during the just-ended quarter, with Q2 average daily rate, ...

Another Major Hotel Default Privately-owned hotel chain Red Roof Inn has defaulted on $467 million in mortgage debt. The news is yet another example of the impact that the current operating downturn is having on highly-leveraged hotel companies. Given our present outlook for the industry, we would expect more such news in the near term. Already this month we have seen a high-profile publicly-traded REIT default on a mortgage and hand over a high-end hotel to its lenders, as well as the bankruptcy filing of another highly-leveraged private hotel chain. These mark just the most notable such examples, as many individual hotels throughout the country have defaulted on their debt and have declared bankruptcy. Average weekly revenue per available room, or RevPAR, is down near 20% year-to-date. Deterioration of this magnitude puts an incredible amount of stress on even the best capitalized ...

Hotel operating metrics continue to slide, and lodging company share prices have begun to show some weakness after months of resiliency.According to data released from Smith Travel Research, Inc., average weekly occupancy fell 10.1% last week, while average daily room rate, or ADR, fell 9.4% versus the year-ago period.Together, this resulted in a 18.6% year-over-year decline in revenue per available room, or RevPAR, a key hotel industry operating metric.The declines in room rate remain particularly troubling, as companies attempt to fill rooms by lowering prices. Ultimately, we believe that this strategy will increase both the severity and length of the industry's downturn.Hotel stocks had remained resilient over recent months in spite of the ongoing streak of bleak operating statistics reported thus far this year. However, the shares have pulled back in recent days.Over the last two weeks, shares of ...

As the recession continues, hotel industry operating metrics are showing no signs of improvement, as both business and leisure travelers are cutting back.OUTLOOKThe lodging industry is facing significant challenges stemming from the economic recession, as both business and consumers are cutting back on travel expenditures. When evaluating hotel companies like Starwood (HOT) and Marriott (MAR) during this down cycle, we will be paying especially close attention to changes in average daily room rates as an indication of how quickly the sector may recover once the economy improves.A key operating metric in the lodging industry is RevPAR (revenue per available room). This metric is derived by multiplying the occupancy percentage of a hotel over a given period by the average daily room rate (ADR) over that same period. Changes in either occupancy or ADR will impact RevPAR, but with different implications for ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 5, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Marriott International (MAR), Starwood Hotels (HOT), Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), Wyndham Worldwide (WYN) and Duke Realty (DRE).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=4579.

Here are highlights from Thursday's Analyst Blog:

Another Rough Week for Hotels

Chicago and New York City led the way lower last week, with ADR declines of 26.5% and 26.4%, respectively. These are major markets, with significant concentrations of hotels aligned with the large, publicly held lodging companies.

RevPAR declines were

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Weekly average hotel room rates fell to their lowest level of the year last week, according to data from Smith Travel Research, Inc. Given the ongoing deterioration in operating fundamentals, we reiterate our negative outlook on the sector, as well as our Sell ratings on Marriott International ((MAR) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT).Average occupancy levels declined 10.2% year-over-year to 51.6% during the week ended May 30, 2009. During the same period, average daily room rate, or ADR, fell 9.6% to $93.00. Together, this resulted in a decline in revenue per available room, or RevPAR, of 18.9% to $47.96. This was the lowest RevPAR level since late January.Chicago and New York City led the way lower last week, with ADR declines of 26.5% and 26.4%, respectively. These are major markets, with significant concentrations of hotels aligned with the large, publicly held lodging companies....