Hyatt Hotels (H) risk factors, FY2025 10-K

Risks Related to the Hospitality Industry

1. 01We are subject to macroeconomic and other factors beyond our control, as well as the business, financial, operating, and other risks of the hospitality industry, all of which may adversely affect our financial results and growth
2. 02The hospitality industry is cyclical and adverse global economic conditions or low levels of economic growth could adversely affect our revenues and profitability as well as cause a decline in or limitation of our future growth
3. 03Risks relating to natural or man-made disasters, weather and climate-related events, contagious diseases, terrorist activity, and war could reduce the demand for lodging and hospitality-related businesses, which may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations

Competition Risks

1. 04Significant increases in the volume of sales made through third-party internet travel intermediaries could have an adverse impact on consumer loyalty to our brand and could negatively affect our revenues and profits22% rewritten
2. 05If we are unable to establish and maintain key distribution arrangements for our properties or hospitality-related businesses, the demand for our rooms, hospitality-related services, and revenues could decrease
3. 06We compete for guests, customers, management and hotel services agreements, franchise agreements, and residential and vacation units based on a variety of factors

Operational Risks

1. 07The risks of doing business internationally, or in a particular country or region, could lower our revenues, increase our costs, reduce our profits, or disrupt our business
2. 08While these factors and the impact of these factors are difficult to predict, any one or more of them could lower our revenues, affect our operations, increase our costs, reduce our profits, or disrupt our business
3. 09The World of Hyatt loyalty program and our digital platforms build loyalty for our brands and drive hotel revenues which could be negatively impacted if we are unable to successfully operate the World of Hyatt loyalty program or further evolve the development and implementation of our digital platforms
4. 10Adverse incidents at, or adverse publicity concerning, our hotels or businesses or our corporate responsibility efforts could harm our brands and reputation, as well as adversely affect our market share, business, financial condition, or results of operations23% rewritten
5. 11Labor shortages could restrict our ability to operate our properties or grow our business or result in increased labor costs that could reduce our profits

Management and Hotel Services, Franchising, Ownership, Development, and Financing Risks

1. 12If we are unable to maintain good relationships with third-party owners and franchisees and/or if we terminate agreements with defaulting third-party owners and franchisees, our revenues could decrease and we may be unable to maintain or expand our presence
2. 13Contractual and other disagreements with third-party owners or franchisees could make us liable to them or result in litigation costs or other expenses, which could lower our profits
3. 14If our management and hotel services agreements or franchise agreements terminate prematurely or we elect to make cure payments due to failures to meet performance tests or upon the occurrence of other stated events, our revenues could decrease and our costs could increase
4. 15Our growth strategy depends on attracting third-party owners and franchisees to our platform, and future arrangements with these third parties may be less favorable to us, depending on the terms offered by our competitors
5. 16Some of our existing development pipeline may not be developed into new hotels or may not open on the anticipated timeline, which could materially adversely affect our growth prospects
6. 17If we or our third-party owners or franchisees are not able to maintain our current brand standards or we are not able to develop new initiatives, including new brands, successfully, our business and profitability could be harmed
7. 18Certain of our contractual arrangements with third-party owners require us to guarantee payments to the owners if specified levels of operating profit are not achieved by their hotels
8. 19We are exposed to the risks resulting from investments in owned and leased real estate, which could increase our costs, reduce our profits, limit our ability to respond to market conditions, or restrict our growth strategy
9. 20We plan to continue to sell selected properties; however, we may be unable to sell selected owned properties at acceptable terms and conditions, if at all
10. 21Timing, budgeting, and other risks could result in delays or cancellations of our efforts to develop, redevelop, or renovate the properties that we own or lease, or make these activities more expensive, which could reduce our profits or impair our ability to compete effectively70% rewritten
11. 22Economic and other conditions may adversely impact the valuation of our assets resulting in impairment charges that could have a material adverse impact on our results from operations
12. 23If our third-party owners and franchisees, including our hospitality venture partners, are unable to repay or refinance loans secured by mortgaged properties, our revenues, profits, and capital resources could be reduced and our business could be harmed
13. 24If we or our third-party owners, franchisees, or development partners are unable to access the capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth, our profits could be reduced and our ability to compete effectively could be diminished
14. 25If we become liable for losses related to loans we have provided or guaranteed to third parties, our profits could be reduced
15. 26We are exposed to counterparty and credit risk and fluctuations in the market values of our investment portfolio

Technology and Information Systems Risks

1. 27Cyber risk and the failure to maintain the availability or security of our systems or customer, colleague, or Company data could adversely affect our business, harm our reputation, and/or subject us to costs, fines, penalties, investigations, enforcement actions, or lawsuits60% rewritten
2. 28If we fail to stay current with developments in technology necessary for our business, our operations could be harmed and our ability to compete effectively could be diminished

Hospitality Venture Risks

1. 29We have a limited ability to manage third-party risks associated with our hospitality venture investments, which could reduce our revenues, increase our costs, lower our profits, and/or increase our liabilities
2. 30In addition, in conjunction with financing obtained for our hospitality ventures, we may provide completion guarantees, debt repayment guarantees, or standard indemnifications to lenders for loss, liability, or damage occurring as a result of our actions or actions of the other hospitality venture owners52% rewritten
3. 31If our hospitality ventures fail to provide accurate and/or timely information that is required to be included in our consolidated financial statements, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results
4. 32Cash distributions from our hospitality ventures could be limited by factors outside our control that could reduce our return on investment and our ability to generate liquidity from these hospitality ventures30% rewritten
5. 33If we are unable to successfully manage the Unlimited Vacation Club paid membership program, our results of operations, including the collection of management and royalty fees related to the program, and cash flows could be negatively impactedNew

Indebtedness Risks

1. 34Our indebtedness exposes us to a variety of financial and operational risks58% rewritten
2. 35See Part II, Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources" for additional information related to restrictions under our financial covenants and the terms of the indenture governing our Senior NotesNew
3. 36Rating agency downgrades may increase our cost of capital

Risks Related to Laws, Regulations, and Insurance

1. 37Our failure, or the failure by third-party owners, franchisees, or hospitality venture partners, to comply with applicable laws and regulations may increase our costs, reduce our profits, or limit our growth
2. 38Adverse judgments or settlements resulting from legal proceedings in which we may be involved in the normal course of our business could reduce our profits or limit our ability to operate our business
3. 39Changes in federal, state, local, or foreign tax law, interpretations of existing tax law, or agreements or disputes with tax authorities could affect our profitability and financial condition by increasing our tax costs
4. 40Negotiations of collective bargaining agreements, attempts by labor organizations to organize additional groups of our colleagues, or changes in labor laws could disrupt our operations, increase our labor costs, or interfere with the ability of our management to focus on executing our business strategies
5. 41Any failure to protect our trademarks and intellectual property could reduce the value of our brand names and harm our business
6. 42Third-party claims that we infringe on their intellectual property rights could subject us to damages and other costs and expenses
7. 43The extensive environmental requirements to which we are subject could increase our environmental costs and liabilities, reduce our profits, or limit our ability to run our business
8. 44If the insurance that we, our third-party owners, hospitality ventures, franchisees, or licensees carry does not sufficiently cover damage or other potential losses or liabilities involving properties that we own, lease, manage, franchise, or provide services to, our profits could be reduced
9. 45The Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 could result in investigations by the U.S. Government against our Company and could harm our reputation and brands

Risks Related to Share Ownership and Other Stockholder Matters

1. 46Our stock price has been and could be volatile in the future, and holders of Class A common stock may not be able to resell shares at or above the price paid
2. 47Volatility in the market price of our Class A common stock may prevent investors from being able to sell their Class A common stock at or above the price at which they purchased the stock. As a result, investors may suffer a loss on their investment
3. 48There can be no assurance that we will declare or pay dividends in the future or that we will repurchase shares pursuant to our share repurchase program consistent with historical amounts or at all
4. 49Reports published by securities or industry analysts, including projections in those reports that exceed our actual results, could adversely affect our stock price and trading volume
5. 50In addition, the difference in the voting rights between our Class A common stock and Class B common stock could diminish the value of the Class A common stock to the extent that investors or any potential future purchasers of our common stock ascribe value to the superior voting rights of the Class B common stock
6. 51A significant number of shares of Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of Class B common stock could be sold into the market, which could depress our stock price even if our business is doing well
7. 52During the 12 month period from November 5, 2031 through November 4, 2032 2,110,42757% rewritten
8. 53We also may issue shares of our Class A common stock from time to time as consideration for future acquisitions and investments. If any such acquisition or investment is significant, the number of shares that we may issue may in turn be significant
9. 54Non-U.S. holders who own more than 5% of our Class A common stock or substantial amounts of our Class B common stock may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on gain realized on the disposition of such stock

General Risk Factors

1. 55The loss of our senior executives or key field personnel, such as our general managers, could significantly harm our business