Should I Buy HST? HST 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy Host Hotels & Resorts Inc (HST) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Hold

Latest Price

18.660

1 Day change

1.19%

52 Week Range

19.300

Analysis Updated At

2026/01/29

Not a good buy right now for a beginner long-term investor who wants to act immediately. HST’s longer-term trend is still constructive (bullish moving-average stack), but near-term momentum has weakened (MACD histogram negative and expanding) and insider selling has surged, which is a poor setup going into earnings (Feb 18). With the stock sitting just below the pivot (~18.61) and close to support (~18.11), the risk/reward today is not compelling enough to call it a clear long-term buy.

Technical Analysis

Trend/price context: Price ~18.45, slightly below the pivot (18.612). Immediate support is S1 ~18.112 (then S2 ~17.802). Resistance levels are R1 ~19.112 and R2 ~19.422. Momentum: MACD histogram is -0.0088 (below 0) and negatively expanding, implying weakening upside momentum in the near term. RSI(6) ~45.17 is neutral, not oversold. Trend structure: Moving averages are bullish (SMA_5 > SMA_20 > SMA_200), which supports the longer-term uptrend, but current momentum indicators suggest the stock can drift or pull back before resuming. Pattern-based odds (provided): Similar-pattern analysis suggests mild downside bias (-3.17% next week). **Intellectia Proprietary Trading Signals** - [AI Stock Picker](module://ai_stock_pick): No signal on given stock today. - [SwingMax](module://swingmax): No signal on given stock recently.

Options Data

Bullish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Sentiment read: Put/Call ratios are bullish-to-neutral (both OI PCR 0.82 and volume PCR 0.51 imply more call positioning than puts), suggesting traders lean more optimistic than defensive. Activity/volatility: Today’s option volume is elevated vs average (15.26x), which can indicate positioning ahead of an event (earnings on 2026-02-18). Implied vol (~30.1) is near historical vol (~30.2), meaning options are not pricing an unusually large move versus recent realized volatility. Takeaway: Options flow is constructive, but it looks more like event-positioning than a clean, durable long-term ‘buy now’ signal—especially with weak MACD momentum and heavy insider selling.

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

1) Earnings catalyst: QDEC 2025 earnings on 2026-02-18 (after hours). JPMorgan put HST on “Positive Catalyst Watch” into the report, expecting upside to Q4 EBITDA estimates and potentially stronger 2026 guidance.
2) Macro/industry angle: Truist expects stronger 2026 RevPAR growth than the Street anticipates, which could support earnings upside and multiple expansion.
3) Event tailwind: JPMorgan notes potential 2026 World Cup benefit (longer-dated catalyst).

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

1) Insider selling: Insiders are Selling, with selling amount up 764.40% over the last month—this is a meaningful negative signal versus buying today.
2) Near-term technical softness: MACD is negative and deteriorating; price is below the pivot, increasing the odds of a test of support (~18.11).
3) No supportive news flow: No news in the last week to counterbalance the insider-selling signal.
4) Sector framing: Barclays views hotel REITs as more of a short-term trading sector for many REIT investors (less clearly positioned for long-term excess returns).

Financial Performance

Latest reported quarter (2025/Q3): - Revenue: $1.331B (+0.91% YoY) — modest top-line growth. - Net Income: $161M (+96.34% YoY) — strong improvement. - EPS: $0.23 (+91.67% YoY) — strong improvement. - Gross Margin: 13.15% (-6.74% YoY) — profitability margin compressed despite higher earnings. Read-through: Earnings growth is strong, but revenue growth is modest and margin compression is a watch item. Overall, fundamentals are decent, but not so strong that they outweigh insider selling and weakening short-term momentum for an immediate buy.

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Recent trend: Price targets have been moving up modestly and sentiment has improved slightly, but the Street is still mixed. - Bullish notes: Truist upgraded to Buy (PT $21). Compass Point upgraded to Buy (PT $22). Stifel remains Buy (PT ~18.75). - Neutral/mixed: JPMorgan stays Neutral but raised PT to $20 and flagged a positive catalyst watch. Morgan Stanley stays Equal Weight (PT $18). Barclays initiated Equal Weight (PT $19). Evercore downgraded to In Line (PT $20). Wall Street pros vs cons: Pros: Potential RevPAR acceleration in 2026, possible upside guidance/EBITDA into upcoming earnings, and some event-driven tailwinds longer-term. Cons: Several major firms remain Neutral/Equal Weight, and the sector is often treated as trading-oriented rather than a long-duration compounder—reducing conviction for a beginner long-term ‘buy right now’ decision.

9 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast HST stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for HST is 19.75 USD with a low forecast of 18 USD and a high forecast of 22 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

5 Buy

4 Hold

0 Sell

Moderate Buy

Current: 18.440

Low

Averages

19.75

High

Current: 18.440

Low

Averages

19.75

High

JPMorgan

Neutral

maintain

$18 -> $20

AI Analysis

2026-01-22

Reason

JPMorgan

Price Target

$18 -> $20

AI Analysis

2026-01-22

maintain

Neutral

Reason

JPMorgan raised the firm's price target on Host Hotels to $20 from $18 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. JPMorgan also placed Host Hotels on "Positive Catalyst Watch" into the Q4 report on February 18. The firm sees upside to Q4 EBITDA estimates on strong RevPAR trends and expects the company's fiscal 2026 guidance to exceed Street estimates. Host could be the biggest World Cup beneficiary within the lodging group in 2026, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Morgan Stanley

Stephen Grambling

Equal Weight

maintain

$17 -> $18

2026-01-16

Reason

Morgan Stanley

Stephen Grambling

Price Target

$17 -> $18

2026-01-16

maintain

Equal Weight

Reason

Morgan Stanley analyst Stephen Grambling raised the firm's price target on Host Hotels to $18 from $17 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. Gaming, lodging and leisure fundamentals were "muted" in 2025, with select areas of acceleration skewed to companies serving older, wealthier consumers, the analyst tells investors in a 2026 look ahead note on the group. For 2026, the firm expects "more of the same fundamentally," with the added wrinkle of rates boosting goods over services, the analyst added.

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HST Should I Buy

HST Should I Buy

Should You Buy Host Hotels & Resorts Inc (HST) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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