Travel demand shows no signs of slowing. 3 stocks on Josh Brown’s list to ride the wave
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — The last time we wrote to you about the travel sector broadly, the big picture idea was that these were among the strongest names in the consumer discretionary part of the market because travel had been immune to some of the concern over household spending. People have been pulling back on lots of wants and needs, but the desire to get on a plane and check into a hotel is showing zero signs that it is abating. With the exception of Expedia (EXPE), the travel names we’ve written about have held up remarkably well given the market turmoil that began in February. The Expedia sell-off has nothing to do with travel spending, it’s a byproduct of the AI disruption worries. As for the rest of the sector, cruising, flying, lodging, etc. are all pretty HALO and, as a result, these stocks have been hanging in there on our list. Sean thought it would be a good time to check in on the travel names we still have on our Best Stocks in the Market list given the underlying strength of the theme in the real economy. People are trading down and sacrificing elsewhere but they’re not throwing away the experience portion of their budgets. Good news. We’ve got a trio of names to show you today — Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT) , Marriott International (MAR) and Viking Holdings LTD (VIK) . First we’ll show you some high level list stats, then we’ll get to the charts. Sector leaderboard As of April 6 , there are 170 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top sector ranking: Top industries: Top 5 best stocks by relative strength: Sector spotlight: Travel Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (HLT): Sean — Post-Covid, travel stocks have been massive compounders. HLT has annualized 21% a year in total returns the past five years. But if you zoom out to 10 years (inclusive of a 51% drawdown in April 2020) the hotel chain has annualized an even more impressive 23% a year. We just had one of the largest tech booms in history the past decade. Hilton had a better annualized return than: Meta, the literal creator of today’s social media, Amazon, the creator of e-commerce, and Microsoft, a leader in software, cloud and AI. Hilton even has the same annualized return as Google, the AI darling, cloud super-power, and owner of one of the best streaming platforms out there. How wild is that? People love traveling, and these two travel titans are delivering year in and year out. Starting with HLT first, in 2025 the chain had a net unit growth rate of 6.7% year-over-year with nearly 9,000 hotels in operation and 100,000 rooms open throughout the year. Hilton reports later in the month, they expect to report 9% top line revenue growth, 38% EBIT growth and roughly 14% EPS growth, all year over year. Josh — Regular readers of this column know we learn a lot about how persistent the buyers are by how a stock behaves during a broad market sell-off. Hilton (HLT) acts pretty well so far. This is where you separate damage from deterioration. Yes, the stock lost the 50-day, but it hasn’t broken the trend. Price pulled back from the highs and is now hovering around that $300 area, which had been resistance and is now being tested as support. RSI in the low 50s shows momentum cooled off, not collapsed. For investors, this is still very much in play. The line that matters is the 200-day near $280 on a weekly closing basis. As long as that holds, this is a pullback within an uptrend, not the end of it. A move back above $300–$305 would quickly repair the chart and put the highs back in focus. Marriott International, Inc. (MAR): Sean — Marriott is the larger, older brother of the pair. Marriott closed 2025 with over 1.78 million rooms across 9,800+ properties and a record pipeline of nearly 610,000 rooms, up 6% year-over-year. The Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program expanded by 43 million members to nearly 271 million. Marriott is digging deep to separate itself as a luxury provider. Through Marriott Bonvoy, you can book everything from luxury villas and homes to yachts via The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. Marriott is the operator of the ultra-luxurious Bulgari Hotels and owner of The Ritz-Carlton, but they have a number of budget friendly brands too, including Four Points and City Express. This year Marriott has had a good start as it was named one of Fortune’s most admired companies and ranked #1 in the Hotels, Casinos and Resorts category. Additionally, Marriott Bonvoy is the official 2026 FIFA World Cup hotel supplier, hosting fans across three countries, which alone is expected to provide a 40 basis point lift to revenue per available room. Josh — This thing looked so good before the oil price spike. Marriott (MAR) took more technical damage than Hilton, and that matters. The breakout failed, the stock rolled over, and it’s now below the 50-day and struggling to find its footing in the low $330s. That level had been support and you’re seeing it get tested from below, which is a different setup than simple consolidation. Momentum has cooled more meaningfully here. That said, it’s not broken for investors. The 200-day near $290 is the line that defines the trend, and price is still well above it. As long as you’re holding that on a weekly closing basis, this is a messy pullback, not a trend change. But unlike Hilton, this one needs to prove it can reclaim lost ground. Getting back above $330 is step one to stabilize things and shift the conversation back toward the highs. In my opinion, this is not going to work until there’s a sign the war is winding down and gasoline prices can stabilize lower. It’s not that the business has been affected, the problem here is the sentiment. Wall Street simply will not buy a story where the consumer faces a 25% jump in gas and is still willing to book rooms, upgrade, spend lavishly while on premise and then start planning the next vacation. Viking Holdings Ltd. (Bermuda) (VIK) Sean — Viking is the only other travel firm on our list outside of the big hotels. VIK is relatively new to the markets as it went public for the first time in 2024 after being owned by the Hagen family (and TPG) since its inception in 1997. VIK is hot out of the gates, putting up a 62% return in 2025 and a total return of 7% so far in 2026. Viking has been in the river cruise business for 29 years and has grown its fleet to 89 river ships alone — operating across Europe, Egypt, the U.S., Vietnam, Cambodia and India. Similar to Marriott, VIK is another fan favorite. Viking has ranked as the #1 operator of river and ocean cruises for five straight years, has a 54% repeat guest rate, and more than 50% of bookings are made directly with Viking, cutting out the travel agents (and the costs that come with them). As of mid-February 2026, Viking had already booked 86% of its 2026 capacity, with $5.96 billion in advance bookings — up 13% year-over-year. VIK reports next month and expects to deliver 13% top line growth and 35% EBITDA growth as the company continues to expand their fleet of ships. Josh — I don’t do cruises but a lot of people love them. And the people who love them love Viking. This has been an incredible story since it began trading, with a solid brand name and a differentiated offering from the Carnivals and the Royal Caribbeans of the space. This is the one acting the best of our trio today. While the others pulled back and lost near-term trend support, Viking never broke character. It’s been riding a steady uptrend and is now tightening just below the highs around $80. That’s exactly what you want to see. No sharp giveback, no technical damage, just controlled consolidation right beneath resistance. For investors, this is still clean. The 200-day near $65 is the line that defines the trend and it hasn’t even been threatened. As long as that holds on a weekly closing basis, this remains one of the stronger setups in the group. A push through $80 is your next leg higher. I would bet on a new high above $80 and use your primary stop around $65. DISCLOSURES: (None) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, or its parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. 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