Marriott Reports on Thursday ! Look for big earnings !

Forbes-,
NEW YORK -
Hotel operator Marriott International Inc. reports earnings for the first quarter on Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.
OVERVIEW: In January, Marriott named the chain of boutique hotels it is launching with upscale hotelier Ian Schrager "Edition." Marriott and Schrager plan to open the first Edition hotels in about two years in nine cities, including Paris, Madrid, Miami, and Chicago. Two are planned for Los Angeles.
The Bethesda, Md.-based company, which operates under brand names that include Courtyard, Ritz-Carlton and Marriott, said in February that it signed a deal with Orbitz Worldwide Inc. that would make its rooms available on the online travel company's Web sites.
BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predict a profit of 33 cents per share on revenue of $2.83 billion.
ANALYST TAKE: Deutsche Bank (nyse: DB - news - people ) North America analyst Chris Woronka said in an April 10 client note that he anticipates Marriott's quarterly earnings results will be helped by international growth, buybacks and lower interest.
He sees increased focus on timeshare operations and expects the lodging company to "confirm that leisure and weekend demand/pricing power is decelerating and booking windows for short-term transient and group business are narrow."
Woronka predicts a first-quarter profit of 35 cents per share.
Felicia Hendrix of Lehman Brothers (nyse: LEH - news - people ) estimated 3 percent growth in North American revenue per available room in the first quarter. Marriott previously predicted growth in a range of 2 percent to 4 percent, the analyst said in a client note. Revenue per available room, also know as revpar, is a key gauge of a hotel operator's performance.
Hendrix expects Marriott's quarterly timeshare revenue to plunge 84 percent to $9 million, which is within the range of $7 million to $12 million predicted by Marriott. The analyst said the forecast accounts for new project startup costs and difficult comparisons to results from a year ago when a large Hawaiian inventory became financially reportable.
Hendrix provided a first-quarter earnings estimate of 32 cents per share.
STOCK PERFORMANCE: Shares of Marriott International (nyse: MAR - news - people ) fluctuated during the quarter, but ended the period less than 1 percent higher.