Hotel Chart of the Week: Investors Want Wyndham to Seek Merger

Skift editors were struck by this chart of Wyndham's stock price as of Friday. Investors continue to behave as if it would be a good thing for the world's largest hotel franchisor to merge with another player. Sustained investor pressure on that score might prompt Wyndham's management to change strategy at some point.

Shares spiked on Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal floated a rumor that Choice Hotels wanted to buy Wyndham. Analysts quickly cast doubts that any deal would materialize.

Yet Wyndham's shares remained elevated even when analysts like those at Baird poured cold water on this rumor. Many investors seem to dare to hope that a merger or takeover by some player will happen.

So why would investors cheer an offer for Wyndham?

Baird Equity Research held