Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) CEO Christopher Nassetta said on the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call that he sees America’s divided economy beginning to converge, with lower- and middle-income consumers starting to spend more — a shift he described as a “C-shaped economy.”
Nassetta said he expects improving performance in lower- and mid-tier segments for the rest of the year, with demand shifting away from luxury and upper-upscale travel toward a more balanced mix.
What Is A C-Shaped Economy?
The term is Nassetta’s play on the widely discussed K-shaped economy — a split in which high-earners pull ahead while lower-income consumers fall behind. Nassetta said macro forces, including falling inflation, expectations of lower interest rates and heavy AI investment, are “benefiting the middle and lower income consumer and driving broader demand growth.”
He acknowledged the Iran war’s energy price spike but said investors should “forget, for the moment, the spike in energy prices and oil because of the war” when assessing these broader structural trends.
The K-shaped divide has been …