Marriott International (MAR) is trading higher on May 5 as investors buy into the print ahead of the company’s first-quarter earnings report scheduled for Wednesday, May 6 (before the market opens). The move reflects an earnings-prep bid in large-cap travel/lodging, with the market focused on whether Marriott can sustain growth momentum while absorbing elevated investment spending tied to its multi-year technology transformation.

Consensus expectations cluster around mid-$2.50s EPS on roughly $6.56 billion in revenue for the quarter, keeping attention on management commentary rather than just the headline beat/miss. With the stock already at a premium valuation, traders are watching for confirmation that fee growth, unit growth, and pricing power can offset higher cost pressures and ongoing capex commitments.

The broader lodging backdrop has been supportive: March 2026 U.S. hotel data showed RevPAR rising 5.9% year over year, reinforcing the idea that travel demand is holding up into the spring shoulder season. That data point helps explain why Marriott can catch a bid even before results, as investors look through near-term noise and lean on demand indicators that tend to feed into management and franchise fee trends.