During Hilton's Q4 earnings call on Thursday, CEO Christopher Nassetta expressed confidence that Donald Trump's economic policies would be good for Hilton and the U.S. economy in general.
Nassetta said Hilton "feels incrementally a bit better" about the outlook for 2025 than it did a quarter ago, when there was "a lot of noise around the election and a lot of uncertainty around the outcome of the election." The company projects that full-year 2025 revenue per available room (RevPAR) will increase between 2% and 3%.
While there is still a lot of noise surrounding Trump's presidency, Nassetta said that things look good "when you lift up above all the noise."
"There is a broad belief, and I would say fairly consistent amongst the folks that I talk to across a broad range of industries, that the opportunity for economic growth in the short to intermediate term will be better," Nassetta said.
Nassetta said there's likely to be a "lighter regulatory environment across the board." Regarding tax policy, Nassetta said businesses are "optimistic that it's going to get done in a way that is favorable." One of Trump's aims is renewing expiring provisions of the tax cuts that were enacted during his first administration in 2017.
Regarding tariffs, Nassetta noted there is a lot of noise surrounding this issue, as well. He thinks the administration's current actions are part of a broader trade negotiation strategy. The Trump administration this week levied a 10% tariff on Chinese products and agreed to pause threatened tariffs against Mexico and Canada for 30 days.
"My guess is that we will end up, in most cases, in a place where we get some form of a trade deal done that will not involve major tariffs," he said.
Even if there is a harmful effect from tariffs, Nassetta said Hilton has diversified its supply chains "in a very aggressive way" over the past five years, reducing exposure in any single market.
Q4 net income was $505 million
Hilton's revenue in the fourth quarter was $2.78 billion, up 6.5% from $2.61 billion in the same period in 2023.
Net income was $505 million for the fourth quarter and $1.54 billion for the full year, exceeding the high end of guidance, Hilton said.
Fourth-quarter occupancy was 69.9% systemwide, an increase of 1.1 percentage points. Average daily rate was $157.73, a 1.9% increase. RevPAR was $110.33, a 3.5% rise.