NEW YORK — The lodging sector looked less than comfortable yesterday as earnings reports from two major hotel and casino companies outlined the troubles facing the industry in the U.S., including one that said there's been weakness in Hawai'i.

Lodging and gaming stocks had risen in recent days as a drop in oil prices boosted investors' hopes that the impact of the U.S. economic downturn on the travel industry might not be as great as feared.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s second-quarter results topped Wall Street expectations, but its stock fell after it cut its forecast for the full fiscal year.

The company said earnings for the three months ended June 30 dropped 16.4 percent to $105 million, or 56 cents per share. That's compared with $145 million, or 67 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2007.

International demand remained solid, the company said. But domestic demand plunged in May, said Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen.

"The slowdown we see continues to be consumer-led," chief financial officer Vasant Prabhu said during a conference call with analysts. "As such, the hotel business is weakest in markets that are heavily leisure-driven like Hawai'i and Phoenix."

Prabhu also said the company's vacation-ownership business is tracking below sales expectations in Hawai'i.

The company is still bullish on its long-term growth and plans to add more than 120,000 rooms, including almost 60 percent outside the United States. Van Paasschen said about two-thirds of that pipeline has financing in place and is under construction.

"We're better positioned to manage through an economic downturn having shifted away from owning hotels, particularly in the U.S., to managing and franchising an increasingly global footprint," Van Paasschen told analysts.

Starwood prompted a sell-off of its stock when it announced lower expectations for revenue per available room for both its North American and international properties. Revenue per available room, known as revpar, is considered a key gauge of a hospitality company's performance.

"The steeper-than-expected reduction in back-half guidance should temper the enthusiasm that we have seen over the last week in the wake of declining oil prices as investors refocus on the eroding fundamentals in lodging," said Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Jake Fuller.

Wynn Resorts Ltd., the Las Vegas-based casino operator led by billionaire Stephen Wynn, confirmed yesterday that its Las Vegas property has seen revenue slip.

The company's second-quarter earnings more than tripled, however, and beat Wall Street's expectations. Even excluding a hefty tax benefit and other one-time items Wynn booked in the quarter, strong revenue growth at its Macau property pulled up earnings by 23 percent overall. Revpar at Wynn's Macau property rose 9.9 percent.

Earnings for the quarter ended June 30 jumped to $272 million, or $2.42 per share, compared with $89.6 million, or 82 cents per share, in 2007. The results included a $140.7 million deferred tax benefit.

Revenue rose 20 percent to $825.2 million, driven by a 50 percent increase at Wynn Macau. The Las Vegas property's revpar fell 3 percent to $292 during the period as occupancy slipped.

The Las Vegas gambling market has been struggling against soaring gas prices and reduced capacity on commercial flights to the city.

"We're not sure what it will mean, but it's part of the passing parade and the current short-term environment," Wynn said in a conference call with investors. "I don't think — as an operator, there's not a hell of a lot you do about it. You're not going to change your way of doing business."

"If there's less traffic, then you make less money. Period."

Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Jake Fuller told investors in a note that "commentary from Mr. Wynn did nothing to alleviate concerns."

Also yesterday, racetrack and casino operator Penn National Gaming reported its second-quarter earnings fell 3.4 percent because of the economic downturn, smoking bans in two states and competitive pressure in some markets.

Profit slipped to $37 million, or 42 cents per share, from $38.3 million, or 43 cents per share, in the same period last year. The results narrowly missed Wall Street's estimates.