PowerShares Dynamic Leisure & Entmnt ETF
Latest PowerShares Dynamic Leisure & Entmnt ETF News and Updates

Can Delta Air Lines Continue to Reduce Its Debt in 2016?
Delta Air Lines (DAL) expects to generate more than $7 billion–$8 billion of operating cash flow and ~$4 billion–$5 billion of free cash flow. It plans to reduce its adjusted net debt to $4 billion by 2020.

Will Airfares Continue to Decline in 2016?
According to a study by Expedia, airfares fell by about 5% in 2015. Despite this decline, passenger complaints are on the rise. Many consumer leaders also lobbied for airfare reductions.

Why Did Buffett Change His Investment Philosophy on Airlines?
Crude oil is trading below $50 per barrel, one of its lowest recent prices, and it is expected to take some time before it recovers, given the huge oversupply.

Macao’s Visitor Arrivals Improve in May 2017
Visitor arrivals increase In May 2017, visitor arrivals rose 3.7% YoY (year-over-year) to 2.6 million visitors. However, month-over-month, visitor arrivals fell 6.3%. Visitor arrivals have been improving since September 2016, except in February 2017, when they fell 5.6% to 2.5 million visitors. In the first five months of the year, visitor arrivals in Macao rose 6.3% […]

McDonald’s Global Presence and the Three-Legged Stool
McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast food chain, has over 38,000 restaurants across 120 countries. In 2018, it had approximately $21.0 billion in sales.

What Macao’s Inflation Rate Indicates
Inflation rate Inflation is an overall rise in the price of goods and services in an economy, leading to the fall in purchasing power of money. Macao’s annual inflation, as measured by the composite consumer price index, rose 0.95% YoY (year-over-year) in May 2017, higher than the 0.8% increase seen in April. Macao’s inflation has […]

Why Analysts Expect American Airlines’ Revenue to Decline in 2016
For 1Q16, analysts estimate American Airlines’ revenues to decline by 4% to $9.4 billion and then to slow to 2% and 0.5% in 2Q16 and 3Q16, respectively.

Must-Know: McDonald’s Has Got Tough Competition
McDonald’s (MCD) competition includes large international and national food chains as well as regional and local retailers of food products.
Macao’s Mass Market Growth Story Remains Promising
VIP revenue driving short-term growth The recent growth in Macao casino revenue has been driven by the VIP segment. In the first quarter of 2017, VIP gross gaming revenue grew 16.8% YoY (year-over-year) to 35.6 billion Macao patacas. The VIP segment is also showing good signs. The repayment cycle has been maintained at a healthy 20 […]

What Analysts Recommend for Major Casino Stock
Analyst recommendations Analysts favor MGM Resorts (MGM) stock over other major casinos’. All 20 analysts tracking the stock recommend “buy.” Seven (35%) of these analysts have “strong buy” recommendations, while the remaining 75% have “buy” recommendations. For Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO), 15 (68.2%) of the 22 analysts tracking the stock recommend “buy,” and 31.8% […]
Key restaurant industry formats: The casual dining business
Contrary to fast food restaurants, casual dining restaurants have a relaxed and casual ambiance with a lot of seating. They offer full table service and may also have a wine menu or full bar service.

Royal Caribbean operates the world’s largest contemporary cruise brand
Royal Caribbean International is a global brand offered by Royal Caribbean (RCL). It’s one of the world’s three largest contemporary brands.

How McDonald’s Wages and Major Costs Stack Up
McDonald’s performance is sensitive to any changes in price levels—be it food, labor, or rent. So how much does it cost for McDonald’s to generate revenue?

Rationale for the Starwood-Marriott Merger
With the Starwood-Marriott merger, the companies expect to generate at least $200 million in annual cost savings beginning in the second year after the deal closes.

Marketing contributes to Royal Caribbean’s growing customer base
Royal Caribbean (RCL) offers all cruise company services, including pre- and post-hotel stay arrangements and air transportation.

Why Is Delta Air Lines’s Revenue Expected to Fall in 2016?
Analysts are estimating an ~4.5% decline in Delta Air Lines’s (DAL) revenue to $10.6 billion for 3Q16.

China’s Economy May Spoil Macao’s Party
China: The key market The Macao region relies heavily on the Chinese mainland, as it garners a huge majority (about 67%) of its visitors and VIP gamers, from China and its neighboring countries. The weakness in the Chinese economy will adversely affect the spending capacity of people in the country, which could lead to a […]
Hilton expanded segments with low capital investment
Hilton expanded its operations in segments that require less capital investment. These include the Management and Franchise segment and the Timeshare segment.

What Are Analysts Estimating for UAL in 2016?
UAL’s consensus 12-month target price is $77.38, which indicates a 65.6% return potential.

Declining Crude Oil: A Double-Edged Sword for United Continental
United Continental saw $912 million in 4Q15 savings as its fuel bill fell by 36% compared to a year ago.

McDonald’s Supply Chain: A Must-Know for Investors
With over 38,000 restaurants, McDonald’s doesn’t make any of its products. Instead, it contracts with suppliers to meet its massive requirements.

Caesars Entertainment’s New Corporate Structure and Governance
On December 22, 2014, CZR and Caesars Acquisition Company (CACQ) entered into a definitive agreement to merge in an all-stock transaction.

Consolidated Scientific Games: A Stronger Management Team
The executive management team of SGMS includes President and CEO Gavin Isaacs and Executive Vice President and CFO Scott Schweinfurth.

Why Noodles and Company has short and long-term goals
Noodles & Company (or NDLS) has a few initiatives and tactics to drive short-term traffic. It also drives longer-term brand and customer loyalty building.
Why it’s important to understand Noodles and Co.
Noodles & Company (or NDLS) was founded in 1995. It’s a fast-casual restaurant chain that serves classic noodle and pasta dishes.
What is the outlook for the restaurant industry?
In August, the Restaurant Performance Index stood at 101.9, an increase of 1% from July, which was its first gain in three months.

Acquisitions Help Casinos Grow Inorganically
Scientific Games agreed to buy WMS Industries for $1.5 billion, emerging as a global supplier of lottery equipment and slot machines to casinos.

Key metrics to measure Royal Caribbean’s revenue performance
Now let’s look at certain key operating metrics used in the cruising industry to evaluate operational performance.

McDonald’s Menu Struggles to Shed Its Junk Food Rep
Despite health-related controversies, fast food companies such as McDonald’s maintain that they provide consumers with choice and convenience.

Non-Hotel Segment: TripAdvisor’s Key Revenue Growth Driver
For 2018, analysts expect TripAdvisor to report non-hotel revenues of $449 million—YoY (year-over-year) growth of ~25%.

Ctrip’s Q3 Earnings and Revenues Beat Analysts’ Estimates
Ctrip.com International (CTRP) posted strong third-quarter results yesterday.

Delta Air Lines: Is Higher Debt a Concern?
Delta Air Lines’ higher debt means a higher interest expense and a higher DE (debt-to-equity) ratio. Delta Air Lines’ current DE ratio is 0.69x.

April Jobs Report: More Jobs Than Job Seekers
April’s JOLTS data indicate that there were only 0.9 job seekers for every job available.

Which Sector Posted Major Job Gains in February 2018?
The ADP February jobs report was published on March 7, 2018. It offered a deeper insight into the employment trends across different US sectors.

What Falling Unemployment Claims Mean for the US Economy
The Conference Board uses the average weekly unemployment claims as a key constituent of its LEI (Leading Economic Index).

These Sectors Posted Major Job Gains in January 2018
The ADP January jobs report, which offers insight into employment trends, was published on January 31.

American Airlines: 4Q17 Earnings Beat Estimates, Stock Fell
American Airlines (AAL) announced its 4Q17 earnings on January 25, 2018. It reported adjusted EPS (earnings per share) of $0.95, an increase of 3.3% YoY.

What American Airlines Has to Offer
American Airlines Group’s (AAL) operating revenue fell 2% in 2016 before gaining 4% in 9M17.

American Airlines: 4Q17 Revenue Estimates
American Airlines’ (AAL) revenue for 4Q17 is expected to be $10.54 billion—an increase of 7.80% on a year-over-year basis.

How Hyatt’s Credit Card Data Breach Could Impact Its Growth Plans
Second breach in two years On October 12, 2017, Hyatt revealed that its payment system had been breached. There was unauthorized access detected in 41 hotels in 11 countries, exposing customer credit card information at these locations. About 50% of these hotels were located in China. *Other affected countries and territories include Brazil, Colombia, Guam, Indonesia, […]

How Many Americans Quit Their Jobs in August?
As per the latest JOLTS report, about 2.1 million Americans quit their jobs voluntarily in August, which was a decrease of 70,000 from the previous reading.

How Analysts View American Airlines in 3Q17
For 3Q17, American Airlines’ (AAL) earnings are expected to fall 14.8% YoY to $1.50 per share due to an 18.4% YoY decline in net profits.

Why Are So Many Americans Quitting Their Jobs?
As per the latest JOLTS report, about 3.2 million Americans quit their jobs voluntarily last month. This is an increase of 0.1 million from the previous month.

Could United Continental’s Utilization Improve in 2017?
Load factor improves In August 2017, United Continental’s (UAL) utilization (load factor) fell 0.2 percent points. This fall was expected, as capacity growth for the month was higher than traffic growth. The load factor, the most commonly used measure of an airline’s capacity utilization, is calculated by multiplying capacity by traffic. A higher load factor […]

Delta Air Lines Cuts 3Q17 Unit Revenue Guidance
Utilization rising Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) traffic has outpaced its capacity growth for some time now. As a result, its utilization has improved over the past seven months. In August 2017, is utilization improved by 3.5% to 87.9%. As of August 2017, utilization had improved by 1.5% to 85.9% YTD (year-to-date). Outlook reduced Delta Air Lines’ unit revenue […]

What Analysts Are Recommending for Major Casinos
Analysts seem to be favoring MGM Resorts (MGM) stock over the other major casinos. Of the 17 analysts tracking the stock, 16 of them recommend a “buy.”

China’s Economy: A Slowdown in Second Half of 2017?
A weakness in the Chinese economy could adversely affect the spending capacity of the Chinese people, which could lead to fewer visitors at Macao.

Why Rising Airline Capacity Growth Is Worrisome for Investors
Capacity growth for the seven major airlines grew 6.9% year-over-year or YoY—higher than the average 4.6% YoY growth recorded in the first half of 2017.

What Do Inflation Numbers in Macao Indicate?
Macao’s annual inflation as measured by the composite consumer price index rose 1.03% YoY (year-over-year) in July 2017.

Macao Visitor Arrivals Improve in July 2017
For July 2017, visitor arrivals increased 4.4% YoY to 2.9 million visitors. However, on a month-over-month basis, visitor arrivals increased 22.7%.

VIP Segment Driving Macao Casinos’ Short-Term Recovery
For the first quarter of 2017, VIP gross gaming revenues rose 16.8% YoY (year-over-year) to MOP 35.6 billion.

Airline Stock Valuations: What’s Priced In?
Currently, both Alaska Air (ALK) and Southwest Airlines (LUV) are trading at industry-leading valuations of 6.8x their forward EV/EBITDA multiples.

Airlines’ Q2 2017 Unit Revenue Guidance
Unit revenue or passenger revenue per available seat mile are the airline industry’s most-watched metric. It measures the efficiency of an airline’s operations.

Can US Economic Growth Hit Trump’s 3% Target?
US GDP growth bounced back in the second quarter of 2017, recording 2.6% year-over-year or YoY growth—slightly lower than the 2.7% YoY growth analysts had estimated.

What Marriott’s Key Metrics Suggest for 2017
Marriott’s RevPAR for 2Q17 rose 2.2% YoY in constant dollars across its worldwide properties. Its North America RevPAR rose 0.9% YoY in constant dollars.

Marriott’s Revenues Could Grow 25% despite Hotel Industry Slowdown
For 2Q17, Marriott’s total fee revenues are expected to increase to $820 million–$835 million.

What Analysts Recommend for Hyatt Ahead of Its 2Q17 Results
Analyst views According to Reuters, of the 22 analysts tracking Hyatt (H), three analysts (13.6%) have a “strong buy” rating on the stock, two analysts (9.1%) have a “buy” rating, 16 analysts (72.7%) have a “hold” rating, and one analyst (4.5%) has a “sell” rating. There are no “strong sell” ratings on the stock. Analyst […]

What Analysts Expect for Hyatt’s Revenue Growth in 2017
Analyst estimates In 2Q17, analysts expect Hyatt’s revenue to grow by 3.9% YoY (year-over-year) to $1.2 billion. Sales growth is expected to increase for the rest of the year. Sales are expected to grow 5.4% YoY to $1.1 billion in 3Q17, and 5.5% YoY to $1.2 billion in 4Q17. Hyatt is expected to see revenue […]

What Analysts Recommend for JetBlue Airways
Out of the 15 analysts tracking JBLU, 13.3% have a “strong buy” rating on the stock.

Carnival: Strong Brands Help Develop Market Niche
Carnival is among the most profitable and financially strong leisure travel companies in the world. It provides leisure travel to all major cruise destinations across the globe.

Will Delta’s Strong Operational Performance Continue?
Delta (DAL) saw average traffic of about 57.6 million passenger miles for the quarter, a 2.1% year-over-year (or YoY) improvement.

Can American Airlines’ Revenue Grow in 2017?
For 2Q17, analysts expect American Airlines’ (AAL) revenue to record a rise of 5.8% year-over-year (or YoY) to $10.9 billion.

Could Delta Air Lines’ Margins Keep Improving?
Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) 2Q17 EBITDA margin is expected to improve slightly to 22.8% as compared to 21.8% in 2Q16.

What Analysts Recommend for Delta ahead of 2Q17 Earnings
Delta Air Lines (DAL) plans to announce its second quarter earnings for 2017 on July 13.

Could Airfares Continue to Fall in 2017?
Airfares in 2016 Due to heavy price discounts by airlines, airfares fell ~5% YoY (year-over-year) in 2015. According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, average domestic airfares continued to fall in 2016. According to the report, 4Q16 airfares fell 6.1% YoY to $347, compared with $369 in 4Q15. Airfares fell 8.8% […]

Airline Capacity Use Stays Volatile: What It Means for Investors
Analyzing airline load factors May continued to be a mixed bag for airlines, with volatile capacity utilization. Delta Air Lines (DAL), American Airlines (AAL), Alaska Airlines (ALK), and JetBlue Airways (JBLU) managed to grow their traffic at a higher pace than their capacity growth. As a result, their capacity utilization improved. Delta’s utilization improved by […]

Is the 1Q17 Consumer Spending Slowdown an Aberration?
Consumer spending Consumer spending accounts for almost two-thirds of the US economy. In 1Q17, consumer spending rose 0.3% YoY (year-over-year), the slowest pace seen since the fourth quarter of 2009. It is also significantly lower than the 3.5% YoY growth seen in 4Q16. The slow growth in consumer spending is due to low demand for […]

Analyst Ratings for Delta Air Lines after Traffic Release
Only one analyst has upgraded Delta Air Lines (DAL) since it released its traffic data on Friday, June 2, 2017.

Delta Air Lines Traffic Grows despite Flat Capacity Growth
Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) total traffic grew at a significantly higher pace than its capacity. Capacity growth is a major driver for airlines.

What Analysts Recommend for Priceline ahead of Its 1Q17 Results
Out of the 31 analysts tracking Priceline (PCLN), seven analysts have a “strong buy” recommendation on the stock, and 18 analysts have a “buy” recommendation on the stock.

After a Stellar 2016, Can Priceline’s Revenues Grow in 2017?
For 1Q17, analysts are estimating Priceline’s (PCLN) revenues to grow 13.8% year-over-year to $2.4 billion, lower than the 16.7% YoY growth seen in 1Q16.

What Analysts Recommend for Southwest Airlines
Out of the 17 analysts tracking Southwest Airlines (LUV), 35.3% of analysts have a “strong buy” rating on the stock.

Will Southwest Airlines Increase Its Dividend Payouts?
Southwest Airlines (LUV) has been paying dividends consistently since 1980.

Will Southwest Airlines’ Margin Continue to Contract in 2017?
Southwest Airlines (LUV) reported a significant earnings decline for the first quarter of 2017, though it continued to maintain its position as one of America’s most profitable airlines.

How Hilton’s Long-Term Debt Is Trending
The hotel sector is capital intensive, and companies in the industry normally carry high debt.

Can Delta Air Lines’ Margin Improve More?
Margins are expected to be volatile in 2017. For the first quarter of the year, Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) margin is expected to fall 16.7% as compared to 23.6% in 1Q16.

The Majority of Analysts Are Still Positive on Delta
Delta Air Lines (DAL) is expected to announce its 1Q17 earnings on April 12, 2017.

Frontier Airlines Cut Costs and Became Profitable
Frontier Airlines earned 42% of its revenue from ancillary fees or non-ticket revenue in 2016—a significant rise compared to 25% in 2015.

The Airline Industry’s Cyclical Nature Is a Mixed Blessing
The airline industry is cyclical, which means that its business depends on the country’s economic growth. Most analysts have revised their GDP estimates downward, resulting in a consensus estimate of 2.9% YoY growth.

What Are American Airlines’ Major Revenue Drivers?
American Airlines’ (AAL) capacity growth is one of the slowest in the industry. However, it has the highest capacity among its peers.

What Are American Airlines’ Key Revenue Streams?
In this part of the series, we’ll look at the main services and categories that add to American Airlines’ (AAL) revenues. The major component of revenues still comes from airfares.

Is There Overcapacity in the Airline Industry?
In February 2016, the airline capacity of the eight major airlines exceeded their traffic growth by an average of 2%.

What Do Priceline’s Key Metrics Suggest?
Priceline’s (PCLN) rental car business continues to grow. For the first nine months, rental car days grew by 17% year-over-year, and rental car days accounted for ~12% of the total bookings.

Positive 4Q15 Earnings Raised McDonald’s PE Multiple
McDonald’s PE multiple was flat at 22.07x after the announcement of its earnings on January 25. Over the next two days, it rose to touch 22.4x on January 27.

How Much Can—or Will—Southwest Airlines Increase Its Dividend Payouts?
Southwest Airlines is the only airline to have paid dividends consistently since 1980. And it has been raising its dividend payouts for the past four years.

Can Southwest Airlines Margins Expand Further?
Southwest saw a record $992 million in operating income. This led to the expansion of operating margins to 19.9%—its best fourth-quarter margin since 1978.

Can Southwest Airlines Continue Its Strong Revenue Growth?
In 4Q15, Southwest Airlines’s revenues grew by 7.5% YoY to $5 billion. Of that, a whopping and record-breaking $4.6 billion came from passenger revenues.

Can Southwest Airlines Continue Its Strong Operational Performance in 2016?
In 4Q15, Southwest Airlines saw a handsome 11.1% YoY growth in traffic. The airline gained by 8.9% in revenue and saw 8.8% YoY growth in traffic numbers.

Will United Continental’s Profits Continue to Improve in 2016?
United Continental Holdings made pretax earnings of $4.5 billion in 2015, the highest ever in United’s history. The airline achieved a return on invested capital of 21%, another record for United.

Is AAL’s High Debt Compared to the Industry a Disadvantage?
If American Airlines (AAL) does manage to reduce its leverage significantly, it would put AAL in a much better position to weather the next industrial downturn, whenever that happens.

Will the Airline Industry’s Demand Continue to Grow in 2016?
A study by IATA found that growth in disposable income, which closely follows GDP growth, is the key demand driver of airline travel.

Can Delta Air Lines Continue to Reduce Its Costs in 2016?
For 1Q16, Delta Air Lines (DAL) expects to see its operating margins improve to 18%–20%, backed by solid cost savings and lower fuel prices.

Alaska Air Group’s Strategy to Drive Growth in 2016 and Beyond
Alaska Air Group highlighted some of its key steps that have resulted in a strong financial performance in 2015. The airline expects this growth to continue in 2016.

Why Marriott Relies Heavily on Its Franchise Model for Growth
Marriott now focuses on capital-light segments like franchised properties. Its fee incomes rose from $1.2 billion to $1.7 billion between 2006–2014.

Alaska Air Benefits from a Young and Streamlined Fleet
Delta has a vast fleet of about 817 planes in current use and 23 in line with an average age of 17.1 years. A majority of the fleet comes from Boeing.

Carnival Sees China as Its Biggest Potential Area of Expansion
Carnival identified China as its biggest potential area of expansion. It announced that Carnival Cruise Line will enter the Chinese market in 2017.

Sizing up Papa John’s Management and Board of Directors
John H. Schnatter is the founder of Papa John’s and currently serves as the company’s chair and CEO. Steve M. Ritchie is the company’s President and COO.

Serving up Papa John’s Valuation Multiple beside Peer Multiples
Papa John’s recorded its lowest forward PE ratio on September 12, 2014, at 19.6x, and its highest on June 25, 2015, at 34.7x, with its current at 25.6x.

Comparing Papa John’s Net Margins with Other Quick-Service Big Guns
In 2014, Papa John’s net profits as a percentage of total sales decreased by 0.2% due to increases in interest levels.

Interpreting Papa John’s Insistence on Quality and Customer Satisfaction
Papa John’s distinguishes itself from others in its industry by utilizing natural ingredients and by focusing on strong brand loyalty and quality products.