The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who not so much). Let’s take a look at how hotels, resorts and cruise lines stocks fared in Q2, starting with Marriott Vacations (NYSE:VAC).

Hotels, resorts, and cruise line companies often sell experiences rather than tangible products, and in the last decade-plus, consumers have slowly shifted from buying "things" (wasteful) to buying "experiences" (memorable). In addition, the internet has introduced new ways of approaching leisure and lodging such as booking homes and longer-term accommodations. Traditional hotel, resorts, and cruise line companies must innovate to stay relevant in a market rife with innovation.

The 15 hotels, resorts and cruise lines stocks we track reported a mixed Q2. As a group, revenues along with next quarter’s revenue guidance were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.

Inflation progressed towards the Fed’s 2% goal at the end of 2023, leading to strong stock market performance. On the other hand, 2024 has been a bumpier ride as the market switches between optimism and pessimism around rate cuts and inflation, and while some hotels, resorts and cruise lines stocks have fared somewhat better than others, they have collectively declined. On average, share prices are down 1.7% since the latest earnings results.

Weakest Q2: Marriott Vacations (NYSE:VAC)

Spun off from Marriott International in 1984, Marriott Vacations (NYSE:VAC) is a vacation company providing leisure experiences for travelers around the world.

Marriott Vacations reported revenues of $1.14 billion, down 3.2% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 5.9%. Overall, it was a disappointing quarter for the company with underwhelming earnings guidance for the full year and a miss of analysts’ operating margin estimates.

“We had a mixed second quarter, with rentals exceeding our expectations and lower VPGs negatively impacting our contract sales. In addition, we have not seen the necessary improvements in our loan delinquencies, so we increased our sales reserves to reflect higher expected defaults,” said John Geller, president and chief executive officer.

Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 17.9% since reporting and currently trades at $69.44.

Read our full report on Marriott Vacations here, it’s free.

Best Q2: Carnival (NYSE:CCL)

Boasting outrageous amenities like a planetarium on board its ships, Carnival (NYSE:CCL) is one of the world's largest leisure travel companies and a prominent player in the cruise industry.