Marriott International and the Lodging Sector Help
the RIFC Franchise Index End the 2025 Year on a Strong Note with a 3.4% Gain

The RIFC Franchise Index gained 3.4 percent in market value in 4Q 2025, propelled by the strong performance of the franchised Lodging business sector. Marriott International, in particular, had an outstanding 4th quarter 2025, with a 17.7 percent gain in market value. Strong travel demand, record expansion, strength in premium segments, positive financial performance, and solid shareholder returns (including robust dividends and share repurchases) resulted in strong gains in market value for Marriott and other Lodging franchisors in 4Q 2025 and for the year 2025 overall. The Lodging segment of the RIFC Franchise Index is up 12.2 percent in 4Q 2025. The Food sector was up 1.2 percent, while the Services sector was down 4.9 percent in 4Q 2025.

The table below shows the market performance of the RIFC Franchise Index and the S&P 500 Index over various time periods*. Over 1-year, 5-years, and 10-years, the RIFC Franchise Index returned +5.0%, +45.6%, and 99.2% respectively. Since inception in 2000, it has gained 507.4%. Over these same time periods, the S&P 500 Index returned, respectively, +16.4%, +82.3%, +234.9%, and +390.9%. It is to be noted that the exceptional performance of the S&P 500 Index in recent years has been mostly the result of the remarkable outperformance of a handful of mega cap technology companies (Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, etc.) that are not part of the franchise business sector.