Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT)

Hilton is one of the largest global hospitality companies, founded in 1919. As of December 31, 2025, it had 9,158 properties with 1,351,351 rooms in 143 countries and territories. It earns revenue by managing hotels for third-party owners, licensing its brands and intellectual property to franchisees and partners, and operating a smaller set of leased hotels. It also runs the Hilton Honors guest loyalty program, which had 243 million members at year end, up 15 percent from the prior year.

The company reports two segments. The management and franchise segment covers hotels Hilton manages for third-party owners, plus properties that license its brands or use its booking channels. Its revenue comes from management and franchise fees, licensing fees from strategic partners (including co-branded credit card providers, strategic partner hotels and Hilton Grand Vacations), and fees for managing hotels in the ownership segment. At year end it managed 873 hotels with 264,760 rooms and franchised or licensed 8,239 properties with 1,071,304 rooms. The ownership segment, with 46 hotels and 15,287 rooms (mostly leased), earns revenue from room sales, food and beverage sales and other services. The brand portfolio spans luxury, lifestyle, full service, focused service, all-suites and timeshare brands, including Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Canopy, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Curio Collection, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton, Tru, Spark, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites. Hilton Grand Vacations has the exclusive right to use the timeshare brands (Hilton Club, Hilton Grand Vacations Club and Hilton Vacation Club) under a long-term license. Hampton is the largest brand by rooms, at 26.6 percent of the total.

Hilton serves leisure and business travelers worldwide, and its hotel owners and franchisees are also key customers. Of its hotels, 6,211 properties with 851,582 rooms are in the U.S., and the rest are in the Americas outside the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific. The development pipeline had 3,703 hotels with 520,500 rooms across 129 countries and territories, including 26 where Hilton has no hotels today. Almost half of the pipeline rooms are under construction and more than half are outside the U.S. Nearly all pipeline rooms will be in the management and franchise segment. Net unit growth for 2025 was 6.7 percent.

Management contracts typically have initial terms of 20 to 30 years. Owners generally pay operating expenses and monthly program fees for marketing, technology, reservations and quality assurance. Franchise contracts typically run about 20 years for new hotels and 10 to 20 years for conversions, with royalty fees based on room revenue. Hilton does not operate or employ staff at franchised hotels, but it inspects them against brand standards. Hilton Honors is funded by contributions from members' eligible revenues and by strategic partners. Hilton employed or managed about 182,000 people at leased and managed hotels and corporate offices, and about 328,000 more worked at franchised properties for third-party owners. Competitors named include Marriott, Hyatt, Wyndham, Choice and Best Western brands, Four Seasons and others.