The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index was mostly flat in October, down just 0.2% to a level of 3,323. Year to date through the first 10 months of 2020, the stock index was down 36.9%.
“Hotel stocks outperformed modestly in October despite heightened stock market volatility during the month as investors focused on rising nationwide coronavirus case counts and uncertainties regarding the upcoming election and timing of additional stimulus,” said Michael Bellisario, senior hotel research analyst and director at Baird. “Going forward, we believe clarity surrounding the election outcome should be a near-term boost to broader investor sentiment and travel-related stock prices.”
“Preliminary data suggests that RevPAR declines, which had eased in prior months, actually worsened in October,” said Amanda Hite, STR president. “Historically speaking, Labor Day has been the line of demarcation between leisure travelers returning home and corporate travelers hitting the road. But this year has obviously been different, and the lack of those two demand generators will make operators and owners look at the remainder of the year with trepidation. We publish a revised forecast during NYU’s upcoming virtual conference, but the industry should not expect much improvement from the previous version.”
The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index in October outperformed both the S&P 500 and the MSCI US REIT Index, which both dropped 2.8%.
The Hotel Brand sub-index increased 0.4% from September to 5,993, while the Hotel REIT sub-index decreased 2.1% to 723.
