Company News

Papa John’s Sales Up 12.5 Percent in Fourth-Quarter 2020

by Julia Sanders February 26, 2021

LOUISVILLE, KY. — Louisville-based Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) reported that net sales for the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter 2020 totaled $469.8 million, a 12.5 percent increase from its fourth-quarter 2019 revenue and better than what Wall Street experts predicted, according to CNBC. Total revenue in fiscal 2020 exceeded $1.8 billion, a 12 percent improvement from 2019 amid what president and CEO Rob Lynch dubbed “one of the most challenging years in history.” (Papa John’s fiscal 2020 ended on Dec. 27.) CNBC reports that the pizza chain’s quarterly earnings fell short of expectations based on a survey conducted by Refinitiv, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group. Papa John’s may have missed the mark for the quarterly estimates due to higher food production costs, a new corporate office and employee bonuses, according to the news outlet. Papa John’s opened a new Atlanta office in the fourth quarter, and also gave $2.7 million to its front-line team members as an end-of-the-year bonus. Refinitiv survey takers predicted Papa John’s should have made 46 cents per share instead of the actual 40 cents it earned in the fourth quarter. Worldwide, Papa John’s comparable store sales increased 15.5 percent in the fourth quarter. …

February 26, 2021

Company News Georgia North Carolina Retail Southeast

Home Depot, Lowe’s Sales Increased in Fourth-Quarter 2020 Despite Pandemic

by Julia Sanders February 25, 2021

ATLANTA AND MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Atlanta-based Home Depot and Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s Cos. Inc. both had strong fourth-quarter sales despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The CEOs of both firms cited increased demand for home improvement products as the catalyst behind their sales jumps. Home Depot’s (NYSE: HD) sales increased 25 percent year-over-year for its 2020 fiscal fourth quarter, which CNBC reports outperformed the 19.2 percent growth that analysts were expecting. Home Depot’s fiscal fourth-quarter 2020 ended on Jan. 31, 2021. Home Depot’s digital sales rose 83 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year ago. Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) sales increased 28.1 percent in the fourth-quarter fiscal year 2020, which also outstripped expectations of 22 percent growth, according to CNBC. Lowe’s fiscal fourth quarter 2020 ended Jan. 29. The retailer’s e-commerce sales jumped by 121 percent, while all merchandising departments saw 16 percent growth. According to CNBC, Home Depot gets 45 percent of its sales from professionals, such as electricians and contractors, while the rest come from unprofessional, do-it-yourself customers. This was higher than Lowe’s, which gets 20 to 25 percent of its total sales from professional individuals.

February 25, 2021

Company News Maryland Southeast

Marriott Names Tony Capuano as New CEO, Stephanie Linnartz as New President

by Julia Sanders February 23, 2021

BETHESDA, MD. — Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) has named Tony Capuano as the new CEO. This news follows the recent death of previous CEO, Arne Sorenson. Marriott also named Stephanie Linnartz as its new president. Linnartz was previously the Marriott group president in charge of consumer operations, emerging businesses, and technology. Capuano has been with the Marriott for 25 years, and he will be the company’s fourth CEO. He is taking over the hotel corporation at a time where the travel and hospitality industry is suffering due to travel restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an article by The Wall Street Journal, Capuano stated that he plans to run the Marriott in a similar way as Sorenson did. Before Sorenson was diagnosed with cancer, he would be on the road for more than 200 days a year for work.

February 23, 2021

Company News New York Northeast Retail

Macy’s Fourth-Quarter Results Exceed Company Expectations via Strong Digital Sales Growth

by Taylor Williams February 23, 2021

NEW YORK CITY — Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) reported fourth-quarter results that exceeded the company’s expectations, thanks to 21 percent year-over-year growth in digital sales across all of its brands. In addition, the department store chain reported that comparable in-store sales during the period that included the holiday shopping season were down 17 percent. However, that performance beat the company’s projections, and contributed to Macy’s posting its first profitable quarter in a year, CNBC reported. Product categories such as home beauty and jewelry led the pronounced spike in digital sales, and Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said that the company anticipates that within the next three years, it will reach $10 billion in annual online revenue. In February 2020, the company announced that it planned to close 125 underperforming stores, or about 20 percent of its total count, by early 2023. Macy’s stock price opened at $15.31 per share on Tuesday, Feb. 23, down slightly from $15.68 per share a year ago.

February 23, 2021

Company News Development Georgia Industrial Southeast

Airbnb Selects Atlanta for East Coast Technical Hub

by Julia Sanders February 22, 2021

ATLANTA — Airbnb plans to open a technical hub in Atlanta by the end of 2021. The company did not disclose what area of Atlanta that it is going to occupy. The San Francisco-based lodging company originally made plans to open the hub in 2019 but had to stop development due to travel restrictions and the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, Airbnb had to let 25 percent of its team go. Now that travel is picking up again, Airbnb has decided to move forward with its East Coast expansion. Airbnb anticipates the hub will be home to one of its product developments teams and will become the regional base for hundreds of technical and non-technical roles over time. Atlanta was the city that Airbnb choose due to many factors, including strong educational infrastructure and supporting communities of color. If any economic incentives or credits are associated with the East Coast hub location, Airbnb plans to donate them back to Atlanta for community impact initiatives.

February 22, 2021

Company News Texas

Six Flags Announces Plans to Reopen All 26 Theme Parks

by Taylor Williams February 22, 2021

ARLINGTON, TEXAS — Six Flags Entertainment Corp. has announced plans to reopen all 26 of its theme parks and waterparks throughout North America and is now hiring team members for the 2021 season. After shutting down in mid-March at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the Arlington-based entertainment operator reopened 21 of its 26 parks at various points in 2020, implementing mask mandates, enhanced sanitation protocols and temperature screenings. Six Flags said that it is actively working with state and government officials to secure firm opening dates for parks in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mexico and Canada that remained closed in 2020.

February 22, 2021

Company News Industrial Market Reports Texas Texas Market Reports

Shifting Investment Patterns Prompt IPA’s Industrial Expansion in Texas

by Taylor Williams February 19, 2021

By Taylor Williams The decision by Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap, to recently bring its investment sales services for the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) industrial market not only represents an opportunity to gain share of a booming market, but also to capitalize on a pronounced shift in buying patterns. COVID-19 has drastically accelerated demand for e-commerce services and industrial space on the leasing front. As investors that put new acquisitions on hold early in the pandemic regain their aggressiveness and as more capital sources diversify into the asset class, the line between requirements for institutional and private investors is growing blurrier. Ultimately, the shift in investment philosophy for industrial product in major markets boils down to private buyers targeting assets that have typically been considered institutional quality. This trend is a factor of several marketplace tendencies: the cautiousness with which institutional capital proceeds, the willingness of private investors to accept lower returns and the general mixing up of the Tier 1 industrial buyer pool. Like demand for industrial product from both tenants and the capital markets, the creeping of private buyers into the institutional space was taking place before the pandemic. But the overlap has become …

February 19, 2021

Company News Hospitality Maryland Southeast

Marriott Posts First Annual Loss Since 2009 as COVID-19 Loomed Large in 2020

by Julia Sanders February 18, 2021

BETHESDA, MD. — Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) posted a net income loss of $267 million for 2020, which The Wall Street Journal reports is the hotel giant’s first annual loss since 2009. The company posted a net loss of $164 million in fourth-quarter 2020, which is a significant drop from its net income of $279 million in fourth-quarter 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic materially changed global traffic patterns for both leisure and business travelers in 2020, and Marriott’s hotels bore the brunt of the subdued demand for hotel rooms, as well as conventions and conferences. “With the global pandemic, 2020 was the most challenging year in our 93-year history,” says Stephanie Linnartz, Marriott’s group president of consumer operations, technology and emerging businesses. Linnartz, along with Tony Capuano, are overseeing Marriott’s day-to-day operations of corporate matters in the wake of president and CEO Arne Sorenson’s passing earlier this week. On April 14, 2020, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) reported its lowest travel volume of only 87,500 passengers throughout all TSA checkpoints nationwide, representing just 4 percent of passenger volume recorded on the same weekday in 2019. Average travel volume per day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, which is typically TSA’s busiest …

February 18, 2021

Company News District of Columbia Hospitality Southeast

Marriott International President, CEO Arne Sorenson Dies at Age 62

by Julia Sanders February 17, 2021

BETHESDA, MD. — Arne Sorenson, president and CEO of Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR), died on February 15 due to complications from pancreatic cancer. Sorenson was 62. Sorenson became the third CEO in Marriott’s history in 2021. Over his time at Marriott, Sorenson put the company on a strong growth track that included the $13 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. “Arne was an exceptional executive — but more than that — he was an exceptional human being,” said J.W. Marriott, Jr., executive chairman and chairman of the board. “Arne loved every aspect of this business and relished time spent touring our hotels and meeting associates around the world. He had an uncanny ability to anticipate where the hospitality industry was headed and position Marriott for growth. But the roles he relished the most were as husband, father, brother and friend.” Sorenson was passionate about national and global issues, as he steered Marriott to make significant progress on diversity, equity and inclusion, environmental sustainability and human trafficking awareness. He had to reduce his schedule at the beginning of February to continue his cancer treatments. Stephanie Linnartz and Tony Capuano will continue to oversee day-to-day operations and corporate functions until Marriott’s …

February 17, 2021

California Company News Hospitality Western

ACORE Raises $1B to Launch North American Hospitality Rescue Capital Investments

by Amy Works February 17, 2021

SAN FRANCISCO — ACORE Capital, a global credit manager focused on commercial real estate lending, has raised $1 billion to launch ACORE Hospitality Partners (AHP). Backed by a group of institutions, AHP is an investment strategy focused on providing North American hotel operators with rescue capital to navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. AHP’s strategy is to originate and acquire structured hotel debt investments, including senior and mezzanine loans, B-notes and preferred equity. The investment strategy will invest across the entire spectrum of hotel types, ranging from high-end luxury resorts to smaller limited-service hotels, focusing on assets in high-barrier markets with compelling rebound characteristics. “The pandemic has had a disproportionate and historic impact on the lodging industry leading to unprecedented distress and liquidity issues for hotel owners,” says Warren de Haan, managing partner at ACORE. “We formed ACORE Hospitality Partners to solve this liquidity crisis by providing hotel owners with the capital they require to continue operations and keep people working.” AHP will benefit from ACORE’s extensive experience originating and managing debt investments. Since its inception in 2015, ACORE has originated more than $4.2 billion of hospitality investments. The ACORE team includes more than 80 commercial real estate finance professionals that …

February 17, 2021

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