As of Dec. 31, 2024, Choice Hotels operated 654,000 rooms across the economy, midscale, upscale, and extended-stay segments. Comfort Inn and Comfort Suites are the largest brands (26% of the company's total domestic rooms), while Ascend and Cambria (10% of total domestic rooms) are newer lifestyle and select-service brands. Choice closed on its Radisson acquisition in August 2022, which added about 70,000 rooms. Franchises account for 100% of total revenue, and the United States represent 78% of total rooms in 2024.

As of Dec. 31, 2024, Choice Hotels operated 654,000 rooms across the economy, midscale, upscale, and extended-stay segments. Comfort Inn and Comfort Suites are the largest brands (26% of the company's total domestic rooms), while Ascend and Cambria (10% of total domestic rooms) are newer lifestyle and select-service brands. Choice closed on its Radisson acquisition in August 2022, which added about 70,000 rooms. Franchises account for 100% of total revenue, and the United States represent 78% of total rooms in 2024.

Here Comes Nvidia AI giant Nvidia reports this week. Wall Street will also take in another key inflation gauge and new data on GDP. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.7%, and the Nasdaq lost 2.5%. So far, in 2025, the Dow and the S&P 500 are both up 2%, while the Nasdaq has gained 1%. The earnings train continues. Highlights this week include Zoom Communications on Monday; Home Depot, Intuit, and Keurig Dr. Pepper on Tuesday; Nvidia, Saleforce.com, Lowe's, and TJX on Wednesday; and HP and Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday. Some 425 (85%) of the S&P 500 companies have reported so far, and earnings for 4Q show a strong growth rate of about 16% over the prior-year quarter. That compares to 9% growth in 3Q. Communication Services, up 33%, and Financial, up 30%, are the best-performing sectors, while Energy is the worst, down 30%, according to Refinitiv. We forecast 12% EPS growth for 2025 and 11% EPS growth for 2026. On the economic calendar, the most-important indicator coming is a measure of inflation, namely the Personal Consumer Expenditures Index (PCE, due on Friday). This week also includes the Case-Shiller Home Price Index on Tuesday; New Home Sales on Wednesday; GDP and Durable Goods Orders on Thursday; and Personal Income and Personal Spending on Friday. PCE is the Economic Call of the Week from Argus' Chief Economist Chris Graja, CFA, who offers the following. 'We expect PCE to ease slightly for January. We see the headline number at 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. That would be a tick lower than 2.6% in December, but still above the Fed's 2% target. We expect Core PCE, excluding food and energy, to be up 2.7% versus 2.8% in December. The PCE report follows the release of the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index. Both CPI and PPI came in hot, but we are hopeful that this Friday's release will show progress has been made on inflation because some components of PPI which flow into the PCE looked encouraging.' Last week, mortgage rates dipped 2 basis points (bps), with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.85%, according to FreddieMac. Gas prices rose two cents to an average of $3.15 per gallon for regular gas. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator is forecasting for 1Q and calls for expansion of 2.3%. For 2025, our GDP estimate is for 2.1% growth. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast is forecasting a 2.82% rate for CPI for February, higher than last week due to the surprise bump last week in the January rate. We expect pricing pressures to ease as the housing market cools due to high mortgage rates, supplies of new vehicles are replenished, and the price of oil stays below $90 per barrel. Looking ahead, the next Fed rate decision is on March 19, with odds at just 6% for a rate cut, according to the CME FedWatch rate tool. After that, the next meeting is on May 7, and odds are at 32% for a cut.

Choice Hotels International franchises hotels worldwide. As of December 31, 2023, Choice had over 7,400 hotels with nearly 630,000 rooms. The company operates in 46 countries and territories and has hotels in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In August 2022, Choice acquired Radisson Hotels Americas, adding nine brands and approximately 67,000 rooms to its portfolio.