Hedgeye CEO Keith McCullough is adding Hilton (HLT) to the short side of Investing Ideas. Below is a brief note.

This isn't the first day when Hilton (HLT) has drifted to lower-highs intraday on #decelerating volume. But that’s a similar set a short seller should be looking for...

Here's an excerpt from Gaming, Lodging, and Leisure (GLL) analyst Todd Jordan's recent Institutional Research notes on why owning branded hotel stocks is not a very bright idea right now:

"Long considered bullet proof with recent valuations commensurate with that view, the hotel brand asset light models of HLT, MAR, WH, CHH and H (to a lesser extent) are being put to the ultimate test.  A bullet proof vest is useless against a head shot and the COVID-19 pandemic might be that gun pointed right at the face of unit growth.  Certainly, the asset light vest partially deflects the RevPAR bullet vis a vis a hotel owner, but will unit growth provide the offset to RevPAR degradation?  This has been the asset light thesis.  We’re not so confident and expressed precisely why on in this deck and call."

Short the bounce,

KM