Starwood's 2011 Looking Bright Thanks To Another Strong Quarter

JP Morgan has published a research report on Starwood Hotels & Resorts HOT after the company reported a solid 4Q with positive outlook for 2011. In the report, JP Morgan writes "This morning HOT reported better-than-expected 4Q10 results and provided slightly better than expected upwardly revised 2011 guidance. We think this new guidance of +8 to 10% RevPAR growth (+7 to 9% in local currency and up a net 100 bps versus prior guidance) and +8 to 10% fee growth is slightly better than buy-side expectations. Additionally, HOT's upwardly revised 2011 EBITDA guidance of $975m to $1.0b is also slightly better than expected. We view the new 2011 guidance as having room for future positive revisions given our favorable view of the lodging up-cycle (with volume gains translating into pricing gains and pricing gains translating into operating leverage gains), and HOT's global positioning in it." JP Morgan maintains its Overweight rating on Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which closed yesterday at $60.81. Starwood Hotels & Resorts has a conference call scheduled for today at 10:30am.