H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

H World Group (NASDAQ:HTHT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04, FiscalAI reports. H World Group had a net margin of 19.22% and a return on equity of 39.73%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $998.88 million.

Here are the key takeaways from H World Group’s conference call:

• Strong Q2 financial growth: Revenue increased 10.8% year over year to RMB7.1 billion, while adjusted EBITDA rose 20% to RMB2.7 billion and adjusted net income grew 26.9% to RMB1.7 billion. The adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 3 percentage points to 38.3%, aided by asset-light growth and cost controls.
• H World China expanded its network by 12.7% in rooms, driving a 13.2% increase in hotel GMV to RMB30.5 billion. Managed and franchised revenue grew 25.2% to RMB3.6 billion, and the pipeline reached 3,054 hotels, supporting management’s unchanged full-year opening target of 2,200–2,300 properties.
• China operating trends improved, with ADR up 2.6% and RevPAR up 1.1% in Q2, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of ADR growth. Management maintained its full-year 2026 target for stable RevPAR, while noting that August demand was recovering after severe weather affected parts of July.
• The company authorized a new three-year shareholder return plan totaling US$2.5 billion and approved an initial ordinary cash dividend of approximately US$275 million. Management said the plan is supported by healthy operating cash flow and a strong balance sheet.
• H World International remained under pressure, with blended RevPAR down 3.8% year over year as the Middle East conflict affected certain markets and newer Southeast Asian hotels remained in ramp-up. International revenue declined 5.8%, although Europe’s RevPAR increased 1.1% and management still expects a positive full-year international profit margin.

H World Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:HTHT opened at $45.92 on Wednesday. H World Group has a 1-year low of $33.31 and a 1-year high of $56.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.15.

H World Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 373.0%. H World Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 114.80%.

Institutional Trading of H World Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HTHT. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of H World Group by 81.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of H World Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in H World Group by 889.5% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in H World Group by 1,307.3% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 2,523 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in H World Group during the fourth quarter worth about $223,000. 46.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

H World Group News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting H World Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter adjusted earnings were $0.78 per share, ahead of the $0.74 analyst consensus and up from $0.59 a year earlier. Revenue reached $1.05 billion, exceeding expectations of approximately $998.9 million. H World Group Second-Quarter Results
• Positive Sentiment: Growth was led by the manachised and franchised business, where revenue increased 25%. A separate analysis characterized the quarter as a roughly 5% top-line beat and said the company raised the midpoint of its 2026 sales-growth outlook from 4% to 6%, supported by hotel asset upgrades, a strong development backlog and additional expansion potential in China. H World Group Beat-and-Raise Analysis
• Positive Sentiment: H World announced a new shareholder-return plan, including a dividend of $0.87 per share payable September 22 to shareholders of record September 8. The distribution may support investor sentiment and signals confidence in cash generation.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street’s average price target implies approximately 39.7% potential upside, while positive earnings-estimate revisions could provide an additional catalyst. H World Group Analyst Price Targets
• Neutral Sentiment: Full-year 2026 revenue guidance of $3.8 billion to $3.9 billion is near consensus, with the midpoint slightly below the $3.9 billion analyst estimate. The improved growth rate and solid quarterly execution are favorable, but the outlook may not represent a large enough upside surprise for all investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of H World Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of H World Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen cut H World Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of H World Group in a research report on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.20.

H World Group Company Profile

H World Group, formerly known as Huazhu Group, is a leading hotel management and franchising company primarily serving the China market. The company operates a broad portfolio of midscale to luxury hotel brands, including Hi Inn, Blossom, Manxin, Madison International, Joya, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure and ibis. Through a network of both directly managed and franchised properties, H World Group caters to business and leisure travelers by offering consistent service standards and loyalty benefits across its brands.

In addition to its core hotel operations, H World Group provides technology-driven hospitality solutions such as centralized reservation systems, revenue management platforms and customer relationship management tools.