WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS, INC.

World's largest hotel franchisor — an asset-light, wide-moat franchise with top-decile margins and free cash flow.

Strengths

• Top-decile operating margin 28% (94th pct) and FCF margin 22.5% (92nd pct); OCF margin 26% (89.5th pct)
• Durable franchise moat: 8,300+ hotels, 25 brands, ~869k rooms, asset-light model with strong ROE 41% (75th pct)

Risks

• Net income fell 33% on a $160M Revo franchisee insolvency charge; flat RevPAR and revenue
• High leverage (debt $2.56B vs equity $468M) and thin cash ($64M, 16th pct)

Notable findings

• Exec changeRecent 8-K item 5.02 8-K ↗
• Weak liquidityCurrent ratio 0.86 (<1)
• Buying back stockNet buyback — share count -3%/yr over 4y