Hilton Worldwide vs Royal Caribbean Group
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The short version
- Royal Caribbean Group is the larger business, with $17.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $12.0B for Hilton Worldwide.
- Royal Caribbean Group grew revenue faster (8.8%, against 7.7%).
- Royal Caribbean Group kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (27.4% operating margin, against 22.4%).
- Hilton Worldwide turned more of its sales into free cash flow (16.9% FCF margin, against 6.9%).
- Hilton Worldwide earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (31.1%, against 16.6%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Hilton Worldwide’s earnings: a P/E of 51.3x against 17.1x for Royal Caribbean Group.
| Latest fiscal year | HLT · FY25 | RCL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $80.1B | $74.1B |
| Revenue | $12.0B | $17.9B |
| Free cash flow | $2.0B | $1.2B |
| Net income | $1.5B | $4.3B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 7.7% | 8.8% |
| 5-year growth | 22.8% | 52.0% |
| Share count change | −4.8% | −1.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 49.4% |
| Operating margin | 22.4% | 27.4% |
| Net margin | 12.1% | 23.8% |
| FCF margin | 16.9% | 6.9% |
| Return on capital | 31.1% | 16.6% |
| Return on equity | — | 48.5% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $11.4B | $20.5B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.0x | 3.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $3.3B | $2.0B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 51.3x | 17.1x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 9 |
Revenue
FY16
HLT $6.6B
RCL $8.5B
FY17
HLT $8.1B
RCL $8.8B
FY18
HLT $8.9B
RCL $9.5B
FY19
HLT $9.5B
RCL $11.0B
FY20
HLT $4.3B
RCL $2.2B
FY21
HLT $5.8B
RCL $1.5B
FY22
HLT $8.8B
RCL $8.8B
FY23
HLT $10.2B
RCL $13.9B
FY24
HLT $11.2B
RCL $16.5B
FY25
HLT $12.0B
RCL $17.9B
HLT
RCL
Operating margin
FY16
HLT 13.2%
RCL 17.4%
FY17
HLT 13.9%
RCL 19.9%
FY18
HLT 16.1%
RCL 20.0%
FY19
HLT 17.5%
RCL 19.0%
FY20
HLT −9.7%
RCL −208.3%
FY21
HLT 17.5%
RCL −252.6%
FY22
HLT 23.9%
RCL −8.7%
FY23
HLT 21.7%
RCL 20.7%
FY24
HLT 21.2%
RCL 24.9%
FY25
HLT 22.4%
RCL 27.4%
HLT
RCL
Free cash flow
FY16
HLT $993M
RCL $22.3M
FY17
HLT $791M
RCL $2.3B
FY18
HLT $1.2B
RCL −$181M
FY19
HLT $1.3B
RCL $692M
FY20
HLT $662M
RCL −$5.7B
FY21
HLT $74.0M
RCL −$4.1B
FY22
HLT $1.6B
RCL −$2.2B
FY23
HLT $1.8B
RCL $580M
FY24
HLT $1.9B
RCL $2.0B
FY25
HLT $2.0B
RCL $1.2B
HLT
RCL
Return on capital
FY16
HLT 6.6%
RCL 6.7%
FY17
HLT 6.6%
RCL 7.6%
FY18
HLT 18.9%
RCL 7.5%
FY19
HLT 16.4%
RCL 7.4%
FY20
HLT −5.2%
RCL −15.4%
FY21
HLT 11.9%
RCL −12.8%
FY22
HLT 23.4%
RCL −2.5%
FY23
HLT 24.2%
RCL 11.4%
FY24
HLT 33.6%
RCL 15.2%
FY25
HLT 31.1%
RCL 16.6%
HLT
RCL
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.