Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. HOT operates as a hotel and leisure company, globally. The hotelier’s strong developmental pipeline, significant international exposure, asset disposition strategy and shift to a fee-based business model growth have been helping it to record earnings growth in the past few quarters. Starwood has also adopted a strategy to grow beyond its domestic market, and capitalize on the demand for hotels in emerging economies. On Apr 8, 2016, Marriott and Starwood announced that their stockholders have approved the proposed acquisition at their individual shareholders meet. The deal is expected to close in mid 2016. Per the deal, Starwood’s shareholders will receive 0.8 shares of Marriott, along with $21.00 in cash for each Starwood share. In addition, they will receive a separate consideration from the spin-off of the company’s timeshare business – Vistana Signature Experiences. The deal was announced in Nov, last year and will create the world's largest hotel company. Investors should also note the recent earnings estimate revisions for HOT, as the consensus estimate has remained mostly stable. However, HOT has a decent history in earnings season. Starwood has delivered positive earnings surprises for the trailing four quarters in a row, making for an average earnings surprise of almost 10.75%. Currently, HOT has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) but that could change following Starwood’s earnings report which was just released. We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below: Earnings: HOT beats on earnings. Our consensus earnings estimate called for EPS of 58 cents per share, and the company reported EPS of 70 cents instead. Investors should note that these figures take out stock option expenses. Revenues: HOT reported revenues of $1.40 billion. This beat our consensus estimate of $1.35 billion. Key Stats to Note: Worldwide Systemwide REVPAR for same-store hotels increased 1% year over year in constant dollars. System-wide REVPAR for same-store hotels in North America increased 2% in constant dollars. Worldwide same-store company-operated gross operating profit margins increased 15 basis points year over year. International gross operating profit margins for same-store company-operated properties also increased roughly by 40 bps. North American same-store company-operated gross operating profit margins, however, declined 20 basis points. The company expects adjusted earnings per share in the range of 69 cents to 74 cents per share in the second quarter of 2016. The company expects earnings in 2016 to range approximately $3.00 to $3.06 per share. Check back later for our full write up on this HOT earnings report later! Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report STARWOOD HOTELS (HOT): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research