Hospitality Stockwatch – January 2025
Authors
Arun Upneja, Ph.D. MBA, Dean, Boston University School of Hospitality Administration
Steve Kent, Ph.D., CFA, Assistant Professor, Molloy University-School of Business
Click here to download Hospitality Stockwatch – Current as of January 3, 2025
View previous Hospitality Stockwatch Issues
In any other year, having 10 of the 16 subsectors in the Hospitality Stockwatch up double digits in stock price performance would be viewed as incredibly positive. However, 2024 was slightly different; with the broad-based S&P 500 up 23.0% and the Russell 3000 up 22.9%, our subsectors did not show nearly the same strength as the broader market. In fact, only seven subsectors (airlines, assisted living, cruise, entertainment, fitness, lodging C-Corps, and online sports betting) outperformed the market.
In such a banner year, why did our groups lag a bit behind the pack? It can be summed up in one phrase and a few charts. The Magnificent Seven stocks (Apple, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta Platforms, and Tesla) is a phrase that once again dominated the broader market and drove the S&P500 performance. These mega-cap, tech-focused names are just too big. Their performance and attention overshadow the companies we monitor in the Hospitality Stockwatch.
If we add up the market capitalization of the 16 subsectors and 104 stocks in the Hospitality Stockwatch, we get a value of $1.4 trillion. In comparison, the Magnificent Seven has a total value of $17 trillion. To provide further perspective, the value of six of these seven stocks on their own is greater than all our stocks combined.
As we all know, artificial intelligence has dominated the market and industry over the past year (see Chart 1). In the second graphic, the categories of Accommodation and Food Service were at the bottom of the Census Bureau and Goldman Sachs’ ranking of US firms using AI which accounts for another reason our stocks were lagging the pack.


https://publishing.gs.com/content/research/en/reports/2024/12/30/7d1f596b-5ea1-4b04-887b-f12fde2da1a3.html Global Economics Analyst Top 10 Charts of 2024
Table of Contents 30 December 2024 | 6:46PM EST Jan Hatzius
December 2024 Winner and Losers
The ski resort (Vail) was one of the best performers as early and significant snow, along with positive commentary, led to a 4.6% gain in December. Shares of Vacasa were up 25.6% for the month with most of the gain likely from an announced acquisition by another short-term travel company. VCSA’s move was enough to make Travel SPACs the biggest gainer for the past month. The car rental subsector continued its year-long decline (-59.1%), with another leg down in December (-25.9%).