Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $58.00, but opened at $70.41. Marriott Vacations Worldwide shares last traded at $67.0860, with a volume of 251,980 shares trading hands.

The company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.14. Marriott Vacations Worldwide had a negative net margin of 6.12% and a positive return on equity of 11.21%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Marriott Vacations Worldwide has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.050-7.800 EPS.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s payout ratio is presently -34.52%.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Marriott Vacations Worldwide this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 EPS topped Street estimates and management issued above-consensus FY2026 EPS guidance (7.05–7.80), which supports upside to earnings expectations. Business Wire: Q4 and FY2025 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction: shares jumped after the print (EPS beat) despite some metric softness — intraday coverage noted a notable pop on the beat. Zacks: Q4 Earnings Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Stifel raised its price target to $85 with a Buy, adding upward pressure to the stock via improved sell-side sentiment. TickerReport / Benzinga note
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamental / thesis support from coverage: some analysts/commentary (Seeking Alpha) argue the reset and new leadership create a valuation opportunity (low multiple, attractive cash flow and dividend), which can attract value-seeking investors. Seeking Alpha: Q4 Review
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell ~14% in February, reducing short pressure and increasing the potential for short-covering-driven rallies. No external link
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 earnings call transcript and slide materials provide more color on portfolio refocus, securitization plans and capital allocation — useful for investors modeling FY2026 cash flow but not immediate catalysts on their own. Seeking Alpha: Q4 Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: New leadership faces an operational “earnings test” as management executes a refocus on higher-performing assets — outcome-dependent and a medium-term story. Investing.com: New Leadership
• Negative Sentiment: Large non-cash items: the quarter included significant restructuring/modernization costs and a reported ~$546 million charge that produced a large GAAP loss — these items cloud near-term profitability and could pressure sentiment. Business Wire: Q4 and FY2025 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory / litigation risk: Pomerantz launched an investor probe into Marriott Vacations, which introduces legal uncertainty and potential headline risk. PR Newswire: Pomerantz Investigation

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on VAC. Zacks Research upgraded Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $115.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marriott Vacations Worldwide has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.38.

Institutional Trading of Marriott Vacations Worldwide

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,392,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,730,000 after purchasing an additional 234,105 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,950,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,820,000 after buying an additional 54,285 shares in the last quarter. Senvest Management LLC lifted its position in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,816,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,316,000 after buying an additional 294,937 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 37.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 788,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,051,000 after buying an additional 214,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ananym Capital Management LP grew its position in Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Ananym Capital Management LP now owns 736,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,514,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. 89.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.31, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.04. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29.

About Marriott Vacations Worldwide

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, specializes in the development, marketing and management of vacation ownership resorts and related products. Originally launched as a division of Marriott International in 1984, the company became a separate publicly traded entity in 2011. Since then, it has expanded its offerings through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions, establishing itself as a leading provider in the global timeshare industry.

The company’s core business activities include selling vacation ownership interests, managing a growing portfolio of branded resorts and operating a loyalty program that allows members to exchange or use points at affiliated properties.