HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee, and MILWAUKEE—The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index jumped 6.8 percent in October to a level of 5,520. Year to date through the first 10 months of 2021, the stock index was up 20.7 percent.
“Hotel stocks increased for the second straight month, but performance was led by the hotel brands once again,” said Michael Bellisario, senior hotel research analyst and director at Baird. “The hotel REITs were marginally higher in October, while the hotel brands were the absolute and relative winners. Delta variant concerns are in the rearview mirror now, and investors are looking forward to the recovery continuing in 2022, particularly in some of the harder hit segments, markets, and regions that are poised to rebound strongly.”
“As businesses bring their workers back to the office, weekday occupancies are steadily improving, adding to the already strong room demand from weekend leisure travelers,” said Amanda Hite, STR’s president. “The industry has also seen a lift from improved group demand, which has been above one million each week since the start of ‘conference season.’ Industry stakeholders, especially in major cities, are also drawing optimism from the border opening to international travelers next week, although we expect a more delayed impact for hotels. Overall, industry recovery remains solid with weekly ups and downs continuing as well as labor costs pressuring profitability into at least the winter.”
In October, the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index fell behind both the S&P 500 (up 6.9 percent) and the MSCI US REIT Index (up 7.6 percent).
The Hotel Brand sub-index rose 9 percent from September to 9,894, while the Hotel REIT sub-index increased 0.5 percent to 1,240.
