Hilton Hotels reported second-quarter losses that were substantially higher than Wall Street's estimates
The shares of Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE: HLT) are down 1.2% at $79.05 this morning, after the hotel chain reported second-quarter losses of $0.61 per share on $564 million in revenue, which is substantially wider than Wall Street's estimated losses of $0.31 on $848.7 million. The organization attributed the disappointing results to the coronavirus pandemic, which slashed global travel demand and bookings.
On the charts, the equity has been struggling to recover from its mid-March lows near the $44 level. Although Hilton stock attempted a rally in early June alongside support from the 20-day moving average, it quickly fell short and ran into overhead pressure at the $80 mark. Longer term, the security is down 27.9% year-to-date, and still has a long way to go before it reaches its pre-pandemic trading territory.
Digging deeper, analysts remain hesitant toward the stock, with 11 of the 18 in coverage sporting a tepid "hold" or worse rating, while the remaining seven carry a "buy" or better. Meanwhile, the stock's 12-month consensus price target of $80.10 is right in line with current levels.
That pessimistic sentiment is echoed in the options pits, where puts are popular. HLT sports a 10-day put/call volume ratio of 5.15 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits in the 81st percentile of its annual range. This suggests a healthier-than-usual appetite for bearish bets of late.