Latest news with #LindseyNicholson
Forbes
3 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
What's Next For Hyatt's Stock?
42nd Street with traffic and view of Hyatt hotel, Pershing Square Plaza and Grand Central station, ... More New York City. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Hyatt Hotels Corporation stock (NYSE: H) has experienced a robust performance lately, increasing by 10% over the last month, surpassing the broader S&P 500's 3% return and competitor Marriott International's (NASDAQ: MAR) 7% rise. However, after such a rally, the critical question is: what comes next? A significant catalyst occurred on June 30, when Hyatt revealed a $2B sale of Playa Hotels' real estate to Tortuga Resorts. While selling off assets may appear concerning, Hyatt kept long-term management contracts, converting the transaction into a high-margin, recurring revenue stream. This shift highlights Hyatt's transition to an asset-light model, aligning with broader industry trends that favor fee-based income over capital-intensive ownership. This change enhances capital efficiency and attracts investors. That said, those interested in growth with less volatility than individual stocks might consider the High Quality portfolio, which has outperformed the S&P 500 with returns exceeding 91% since its inception. Q1 Earnings: Mixed Headlines In Q1 2025, Hyatt achieved adjusted earnings per share of $0.46, surpassing expectations despite stagnant revenue. RevPAR (revenue per available room) increased by 5.7%, and net rooms went up by 10.5%, which boosted fee income. However, reported net income fell by 96% year-over-year, mainly due to challenging comparisons, as the previous year included gains from asset sales and heightened interest expenses. Despite the misleading signals, the market concentrated on the essential metrics. Hyatt repurchased $149 million in stock and reaffirmed its commitment to the asset-light model. Guidance: Slight Trim, But Growth Still Intact Management slightly decreased full-year RevPAR guidance to 1–3%, reflecting a more cautious outlook on global travel trends. Nevertheless, Hyatt held its full-year adjusted EBITDA forecast at $1.08 to $1.135 billion, representing a growth of 6–12%. Moving forward, investors will pay attention to key indicators: stability in RevPAR, macroeconomic signals regarding consumer travel demand, and the robustness of Hyatt's fee pipeline. The Bigger Picture In terms of valuation, Hyatt trades at a P/E of 19.2 and P/S of 2.2, both lower than Marriott's 31.3 P/E and 3.1 P/S, suggesting more reasonable pricing. Over the last three years, Hyatt has delivered an annualized revenue growth of 22.8%, surpassing Marriott's 18.3% and the S&P 500's 5.5%. However, profitability continues to be a concern. Hyatt's operating margin stands at 7.2%, which is less than half of Marriott's 15.4%, and its operating cash flow margin is 8.2% compared to Marriott's 10.3%. Regarding resilience, Hyatt dropped 33.2% during the 2022 inflation crisis and 60.6% during the Covid market crash, indicating a higher sensitivity to downturns compared to the S&P 500. Still, with strong room growth, a transition to an asset-light model, and solid liquidity of $1.8B in cash and a 12.9% cash-to-assets ratio, Hyatt could see more upside, especially if travel momentum continues into 2025. Additionally, see our analysis on Hyatt Valuation. Bottom Line Hyatt's rise reflects increasing confidence in its asset-light transition and growing fee income. While margins lag those of Marriott, Hyatt's valuation, growth profile, and capital flexibility make it a stock worth monitoring. Investing in a single stock can carry risks. For those seeking growth with reduced volatility, diversified portfolios like the Trefis High Quality portfolio provide a compelling alternative. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks have delivered superior returns with lower risk compared to the benchmark index; they present less of a roller-coaster experience, as shown in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.
Vox
21-06-2025
- General
- Vox
5 reasons to be grateful for air conditioning
is a senior editorial director at Vox overseeing the climate teams and the Unexplainable and The Gray Area podcasts. He is also the editor of Vox's Future Perfect section and writes the Good News newsletter. He worked at Time magazine for 15 years as a foreign correspondent in Asia, a climate writer, and an international editor, and he wrote a book on existential risk. A You're Hot, Stay Cool sign with an AC unit and fan posted to a street light during a heat wave on 86th Street in Manhattan, New York. Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Lee Kuan Yew, the iron-willed founder of modern Singapore, was once asked what the most important invention of the 20th century was. He didn't say penicillin, which has saved over 500 million lives, or the nuclear bomb, which has shaped geopolitics like nothing before. He didn't even say TV! Instead, Lee had a simple two-word answer: 'Air conditioning.' Without air conditioning, Singapore, where temperatures regularly reach into the 90s with tropical humidity levels, would never have developed from a tiny city-state with a per-capita GDP that was a third of Western Europe's in 1960 to one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Air conditioning is as essential to the modern world as the internet itself. But like the internet, A/C gets a bad rap. Cooling already eats up 10 percent of global electricity, and demand from air conditioners is expected to triple by 2050 without tougher energy efficiency standards. Many units still use refrigerant gases that produce a planetary warming effect that is thousands of times that of a similar amount of CO2. Air conditioning is also a physical manifestation of the energy gap between the rich who can afford it, and the poor who must sweat. It has enabled the development of energy-intensive cities in places where humans just shouldn't live, like Phoenix. Fundamentally, A/C is seen by some as an unnecessary luxury, a prime example of a 'harmful habit of consumption,' as Pope Francis once put it. I get the point. It seems morally wrong for so many of us to use a device that contributes about 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — only so we can escape the effects of that warming. Related The air conditioning paradox But 'seems' is not the same as 'is.' Air conditioning has become far more than a luxury. So on this, the second day of summer, when the East Coast is about to be enveloped by a truly suffocating wave of heat and humidity, I offer five reasons why we should be grateful for air conditioning. It saves lives Heat isn't just uncomfortable. It's dangerous, killing more Americans in a typical year than any other form of extreme weather. Access to air conditioning can mean the difference between life and death. Seven hundred and thirty-nine people died in the great Chicago heat wave of 1995, but having a working air conditioner reduced the risk of death by 80 percent. Another study looked at cities in multiple countries between 1972 and 2009 and found that more air conditioning helped reduce excess heat deaths. As a 2021 review in the Lancet explained it, air conditioning 'is set to become the most prevalent strategy worldwide for coping with hot weather and heat extremes.' And while only about 8 percent of the 2.8 billion people living in the world's hottest regions have A/C at home, that's an argument for closing the A/C gap — not an argument against the very real value of air conditioning. It keeps us working If you struggle to concentrate when the heat and humidity is high, you're not alone. One study looked at office work and found that productivity begins to decline around 73 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, while at 86°F, performance falls by almost 9 percent. Another study found that every 1 degree increase in average classroom temperature over a school year corresponded to a roughly 1 percent loss in students' expected learning — but installing air conditioning eliminates about three-quarters of that effect. As temperatures continue to increase, the importance of air conditioning in schools and businesses will only grow. A 2016 working paper finds that widespread adoption of air conditioning — especially by the most productive plants — substantially offsets the heat-induced drop in US manufacturing output, making cooling a critical adaptation tool. It helps us sleep The more we learn about sleep, the more important it appears to be — and keeping cool is a key part of a decent night's sleep. Humans fall asleep fastest around 64–68°F, while temperatures above 75°F cause vital deep sleep and REM sleep to crater. A 2024 review of more than 50 lab and field studies found that bedroom cooling increased total sleep time 15 to 20 minutes and cut the total amount of time people spent awake after falling asleep by a third. It's given us everything from the movies to microchips Do you like going to the movie theater to catch a summer blockbuster? Well, you can thank air conditioning — before its invention, movie attendance always dropped during the hot summer months. It's no coincidence that the first public air conditioner was installed in a cinema, New York's Rivoli Theater, in 1925. But maybe you prefer to take in your movies in the comfort of your own home? Well, producing the microchips that go into your streaming TV or smartphone requires total precision in temperature control and humidity. In short: no A/C, no microchips. It lets millions live and travel where they want Look, my negative feelings about living in red-hot metros like Phoenix are a matter of public record. But I am clearly in the minority: Americans love to live in hot places. Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, added 1.2 million people between 2013 and 2023, more than any other county — and 96 percent of the new housing built to absorb those new residents comes with A/C. What US cities like Phoenix or Houston or Atlanta have in common with Singapore and Hong Kong is that none of them would exist as anything like they are today without the widespread use of air conditioning. Before A/C, the American South was mired in poverty, far behind the rest of the country. After A/C, the South more than caught up, and the otherwise uninhabitable Southwest became a magnet for people. If you think it's good that people can choose from a wider spectrum of places — and I do — A/C is one of the main reasons why that's possible. Air conditioning as it exists today is far from perfect. But it's also necessary, especially in an ever-warming world. What we need is not less air conditioning — unless you happen to work at an office where they keep the temperature at 60°F — but better air conditioning, with more efficient units powered by cleaner electricity. If you want to go without A/C, go right ahead (though I probably won't be visiting your house in the summer anytime soon). But either way, it should be a choice. A version of this story originally appeared in the Good News newsletter. Sign up here!
Forbes
27-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Ugly Side Of The Big Beautiful Bill
Children Going Hungry To Subsidize Gains For The Wealthy Bilingual sign on door of frozen food aisle, We accept SNAP food stamp cards, Walgreens, Queens, New ... More York. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) As Congress debates the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," many headlines focus on tax cuts and deficit projections. However, for millions of families who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the reality is not just ledger sheets, but whether they can afford food for their children. Behind the rhetoric, this bill proposes the largest cuts to SNAP in history, shifting costs to states and tightening eligibility in ways that will leave low-income households, especially those with children, paying more and eating less. The bill, which passed the House on May 22, includes approximately $267 billion in cuts to SNAP over the next decade, marking the most significant reduction ever to the program. These cuts are not just numbers on a spreadsheet: they translate to real, immediate consequences for families already struggling to put food on the table. Key provisions include: SNAP is the nation's most extensive nutrition assistance program, serving more than 42 million Americans. Recipients are among the most vulnerable in our country, with nearly 80% of participating households including a child, elderly adult, or person with a disability. The proposed changes will disproportionately harm families of color, older adults, and parents, especially mothers, who are already balancing work, caregiving, and tight budgets. Data from Springboard to Opportunities' 2025 white paper, Filling the Gap, shows that food insecurity rates are already alarmingly high among the low-income families who are served by SNAP. The report documents that 72% of surveyed households experienced food insecurity in the past year, with parents frequently skipping meals to ensure their children could eat. The report warns that any reduction in SNAP benefits would exacerbate already precarious household food budgets, leading to increased reliance on food pantries and other emergency resources. One mother who relies on SNAP says she doesn't know how she'll feed her children if the proposed cuts go through. 'It would definitely create a noticeable strain on my ability to provide food and groceries for my family,' said Makaria Gibson. 'I'd have to buy less food overall or sacrifice healthy options like fresh fruit, vegetables, and different types of meats, which tend to cost more…It'll also increase stress, especially when you're trying to keep meals nutritious for your kids.' Research consistently shows that SNAP reductions lead to higher rates of food insecurity and poorer health outcomes for children. Families who lose benefits are significantly more likely to report both household and child food insecurity, with ripple effects including increased stress, worse health, and greater developmental risks for children. While proponents argue that shifting costs to states will improve efficiency and reduce fraud, the reality is that most states cannot absorb these new financial burdens. States facing budget shortfalls will be forced to cut eligibility, reduce benefits, or create waiting lists, leaving families with fewer resources, just as food prices remain high. Moreover, the bill's cuts to SNAP and Medicaid are being used to fund tax breaks that overwhelmingly benefit higher-income households, while the bill is projected to raise the national debt by an additional $3.8 trillion over the next decade. It is simply fiscally irresponsible. This isn't just about numbers on a spreadsheet — it's about children going to bed hungry, seniors skipping meals, and working families falling through the cracks. Cutting SNAP at this scale doesn't balance a budget — it breaks our social contract. The question isn't whether we can afford to feed people. It's whether we can afford not to.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What the No Tax on Tips Act Means for Workers and Businesses
Man selecting 20% tip while using a handheld credit card scanner at a restaurant in Queens, New York. Credit - Lindsey Nicholson—UCG/UniversalMillions of American service workers—from bartenders and barbers to delivery drivers and nail techs—are one step closer to keeping their tips tax-free. In a rare show of bipartisan unity, the Senate has unanimously passed the No Tax on Tips Act, a sweeping proposal that would overhaul how tipped income is taxed in the U.S. If signed into law, the bill would exempt up to $25,000 in tips from federal income taxes. The bill, a signature campaign promise of President Donald Trump, now moves to the Republican-controlled House, where it enjoys broad support. 'We are one step closer to eliminating taxes on tipped wages for hardworking Americans,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement following the bill's Senate passage. 'Working Americans— from servers, to bartenders, delivery drivers, and everything in between— work hard for every dollar they earn and are the ones who deserve tax relief, not the ultra-rich.' The effort to eliminate taxes on tips quickly gained traction during the 2024 campaign, with polling indicating majority support for the proposal across the country, though Americans are mixed on the potential outcomes of the policy. The idea has also drawn criticism from a number of economists and labor advocates. Here's what the bill would mean for workers and businesses. The No Tax on Tips Act would revise the IRS Code to eliminate the income tax on tips. Employees who 'traditionally and customarily received tips on or before December 31, 2023,' would therefore be exempt from paying taxes for up to $25,000 earned tip income. That includes waiters, bartenders, and delivery drivers. Beauty service workers—such as barbers, estheticians, and nail technicians—would also benefit, though the full list of eligible occupations would only be listed by the U.S. Treasury Secretary 90 days after the bill's passage. To qualify for the tax deduction, employees must have earned less than $160,000 for the 2024-2025 tax year. Should the bill become law, this income qualification will be adjusted for inflation. The exemption would impact only a small fraction of the country's workforce. The Yale Budget Lab estimates that some 4 million people worked in tipped occupations in the U.S. in 2023, representing about 2.5% of all U.S. workers. Others, such as the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), estimate tipped workers to make up a slightly higher percentage of about 5% And despite the proposal's broad appeal, economists say that curtailing taxes on tips may harm workers in the service industry. Already, 37% percent of tipped workers do not pay federal income tax because they earn so little. Experts fear that the new policy would incentivize employers to keep base wages stagnant. The tax change may also affect their eligibility for other programs, such as the child tax credit and earned income tax credit, or reduce their contributions to Social Security. The No Tax on Tips Act could further impact the nature of tipping culture in the U.S. Experts warn businesses could potentially encourage tipping requests, or make them mandatory, in order to pay their workers less. Research shows that 72% of Americans already feel they are being asked to tip workers more frequently, per a Pew Research Center report. The No Tax on Tips Act also expands the business tax credit for the portion of payroll taxes that businesses might previously have paid on certain employee tips. The National Restaurant Association voiced its support for the bill in January, praising the potential benefits for workers and saying they could have a positive impact for employers as well. 'Eliminating taxes on tips would put cash back in the pocket of a significant number of workers in the restaurant and foodservice industry and could help restaurant operators recruit industry workforce,' the organization said in a statement. 'Tax policy plays a major role in the success of the restaurant industry, so we'll continue to work with Congress on this and other common-sense tax policy that will stimulate investments and improvements in restaurants of all sizes and help operators make greater investments in their workforce and communities.' Contact us at letters@
Forbes
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
The Superpower (aka Soft Power) Of DEI
Diverse, Inclusive, Accepting, Welcoming, Safe Space for Everyone signage outside Forest Hills ... More Jewish Center, Queens, New York. (Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) I am a proud, naturalized American citizen. I was the 1980s equivalent of a 'dreamer' immigrant, someone brought to America as a child with undocumented status, who subsequently obtained legal citizenship. Thanks to President Reagan, no less. My parents brought me here from war-torn Sri Lanka, in hopes of a better life. So, I know what it means to live with a constant, gnawing fear, fear that your nation of choice, the land where you have pinned your future and identity, might reject you, and fear that your nation of origin might not welcome you back. This year, since the Trump Administration launched its two-front war on immigration and DEI—'diversity, equity, and inclusion'—has been quite a ride, to put it mildly. I would say it has been a roller-coaster ride, but there have been no peaks. One of the things that makes America truly exceptional throughout the world—its core principle of assimilating immigrants who strive for a safer, freer life—has been denigrated for the sake of short-term political gain. As someone who has spent a lifetime as a public voice for social justice, I have been chagrined to see how even bland, neutral words can be quickly weaponized for cultural warfare. President Trump and his appointees, sadly, have been all too effective in making the mere acronym 'DEI' radioactive and divisive. He has extended the reach of this poisonous view into realms far beyond the realm of executive orders, even Disney cartoons and French companies. Most shocking has been the realization that a U.S. president could propound a Big Brother-type list of censored words and get away with it. Even so, as a student of soft power, I have wanted to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. And, to my surprise, the news is complicated but not all bad. Soft power initiatives—of which DEI is surely one of the most prominent—are more durable because they gather strength and reach gradually, from the bottom up, not by diktat or force. And guess what? In this case, soft power is more than standing its ground. To be sure, in a shockingly short period of time a number of high-profile institutions and corporations have cravenly and publicly caved to Trumpian demands to scrub their websites and operations of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. But this number has been dwarfed by those who have not so much as batted an eye either publicly or in their operations. Trump's war on DEI has revealed not how weak and ill-founded the ethics of diversion, equity, and inclusion have been, but how deeply (and wisely) embedded in America's body politic they have become. CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 29: People walk through the gate on Harvard Yard at the Harvard ... More University campus on June 29, 2023 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admission policies used by Harvard and the University of North Carolina violate the Constitution, bringing an end to affirmative action in higher education. (Photo by) America's soft power success story of 2025 will be: DEI is dead, long live DEI. Take Apple, the pinnacle of American commerce at a world-leading valuation of more than $3 trillion. Amid the white-hot competition in mobile phones and artificial intelligence, you would think Apple would be the first to be wary of displeasing the U.S. government and buckle under to threats surrounding DEI. Not so. Apple doubled down, explicitly rejecting a proposal to abandon its principles. Others who have likewise gone on the record in defense of DEI: Coca-Cola, Costco, Delta Airlines, JP Morgan Chase, Microsoft (also valued at more than $3 trillion), Patagonia, and Ben & Jerry's. Harvard University, the oldest higher education institution in the United States and the one with the largest endowment by a wide margin, has been firm in its response to Trump's anti-DEI demands. Its answer: nope. A recent review of almost 400 DEI programs in higher education institutions found that the ratio of those standing pat versus those eliminating DEI programs is roughly 24-to-1. If you think the Pentagon's frenetic and petty effort to remove photos, paintings, and videos lauding diversity is worrisome, just recall the television advertising during the March Madness basketball playoffs. America's recruiting advertisements are panoramas of young men and women of every conceivable ethnicity performing vital military functions with pride and professionalism. Why? The U.S. military faces a harrowing recruitment crisis. It needs (wait for it) diversity and inclusion—more than minorities need the military. Minorities are already overrepresented in the military relative to the general U.S. population. 'Diversity' isn't a nightmare for national security; it's one facet of our beautiful, compelling American dream. As for gender inclusivity, take a look at the numbers, sports fans. The fastest-growing sports franchise in the world is the WNBA. America has not reached the end of the DEI era. In so many ways, it is just beginning. Two of America's largest states—California and Texas—are already 'majority-minority,' i.e., minorities collectively make up more of the population than non-Hispanic whites. By the end of President Trump's term, the entire age group of Americans under the age of 29 will be majority-minority. By the time an American child born today graduates from college, around 2045, the entire nation will be majority-minority. If anyone thinks Generations B,C, and D—or whatever generations to come might be called—will be less in favor of diversity, equity, and inclusion, think again. Social acceptance of racial, gender, immigrant, and gay/lesbian issues continues to trend upward, especially among the younger generations. Eight in 10 Americans favor laws that protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people against discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing. America will face many debates over its treatment of racial, ethnic, and gender identity in the coming years. Some may be more heated and more violent than those we are witnessing now. But one reality is clear. DEI as a core principle and a soft power movement has not been silenced. It is the voice of the future.
