Marriott's Tax Bill Held At $266 Million On A $29 Million Foreign Allowance Release
Lower taxes and a smaller share count helped lift Marriott's third-quarter diluted EPS to $3.04 from $2.67.
Marriott International, the hotel franchisor and operator, kept its third-quarter tax provision flat at $266 million because a $29 million release of a non-U.S. tax valuation allowance offset $19 million of tax on higher pre-tax income, according to its 10-Q filed Monday. The allowance release stems from legislation enacted during the quarter.
How the tax line stayed put
The effective tax rate fell to 25.1% from 26.8% a year earlier, and the 10-Q attributes the drop primarily to the allowance release. The prior quarter's filing had credited its own rate decline to lower tax on non-U.S. income.
For the first nine months, the provision rose to $754 million from $656 million, and the effective rate climbed to 25.5% from 23.3%. The 10-Q ties that increase to a prior-year release of tax reserves ($91 million) and higher pre-tax income ($61 million), partly offset by the same $29 million allowance release.
Buybacks do part of the EPS work
Net income rose to $794 million from $728 million. Diluted shares fell to 261.2 million from 272.5 million, lifting diluted earnings per share to $3.04 from $2.67.
Marriott repurchased 3.5 million shares for $1.3 billion in the quarter and 9.6 million shares for $3.4 billion through October 28. Cash spent on repurchases in the first nine months was $3,081 million, against $2,300 million a year earlier. The earnings release put worldwide RevPAR, or revenue per available room, up 6.5%.
Debt, deficit and the next hotel sale
Marriott issued $1.25 billion of new notes in August ($250 million plus $1.0 billion). Total debt stood at $16.8 billion against $0.5 billion of cash. In September it amended its credit facility to $5.0 billion, maturing September 23, 2031, up from $4.5 billion.
The stockholders' deficit widened to $5.1 billion from $4.5 billion at the end of June as treasury stock grew.
Marriott expects to sell a second U.S. & Canada hotel later in the fourth quarter, with $212 million of assets held for sale on its balance sheet. Its full-year outlook assumes capital returns to shareholders of at least $4,800 million.
The company's market value was $104.1 billion as of Monday's original report.
Sources
- 10-Q Filing — Marriott International (MAR) — SEC EDGAR
- 10-Q Filing — Marriott International (MAR), Q2 FY2026 filed 2026-08-03 (comparison basis) — SEC EDGAR
- Earnings release (8-K Item 2.02, mar-2026q3xex99earningsrel.htm) — Marriott International, filed 2026-11-02 — SEC EDGAR
- Is Marriott International (MAR) Fully Valued After Its Latest Leadership Update? — Yahoo Finance
- Marriott: Q3 Earnings Snapshot – WTOP News — wtop.com
- How Earnings Forecast Upgrades At Marriott International (MAR) Have Changed Its Investment Story — Yahoo Finance
- US Markets: Marriott International shares in focus ahead of Q3 earnings, growth outlook amid Iran war impact | Stock Market News — livemint.com
- MAR Gears Up for Q3 Earnings: RevPAR and Fee Growth in Focus — Yahoo Finance
