The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index dropped 36.0% in March to a level of 2,748. Year to date through the first three months of 2020, the stock index was down 47.9%.

“Hotel stocks experienced one of their worst months on record as investors contemplated worst-case liquidity scenarios for hotel companies driven by the COVID-19 demand shock and potential hotel closures,” said Michael Bellisario, senior hotel research analyst and director at Baird.

“In the U.S., occupancy levels have fallen to unprecedented lows, and we are forecasting a 50.6% drop in RevPAR for the year. The industry will be positioned for recovery once concerns are abated, but there is obviously great uncertainty on when that time will come.”

March performance of the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index posted greater declines than both the S&P 500 (-12.5%) and the MSCI US REIT Index (-22.2%).

The Hotel Brand sub-index decreased 34.5% from February to 4,712, while the Hotel REIT sub-index declined 40.0% to 702.