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Carnival Corporation & plc (CCL), headquartered in Miami, Florida, is a cruise and vacation company. Valued at $19.36 billion by market cap, the company operates from 14 U.S. and two Australian homeports and seasonally from Europe. The leading cruise line is expected to announce its fiscal third-quarter earnings for 2024 on Friday, Oct. 4.
Ahead of the event, analysts expect CCL to report a profit of $1.15 per share on a diluted basis, up 33.7% from $0.86 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has consistently surpassed Wall Street’s EPS estimates in its last four quarterly reports. At the end of the previous quarter, CCL had $4.6 billion of liquidity.
For fiscal 2024, analysts expect CCL to report EPS of $1.18.
CCL stock has significantly underperformed the S&P 500’s ($SPX) 14% gains on a YTD basis, with shares down 7.7% during this period. Similarly, it underperformed the S&P 500 Cons Disc Sector SPDR’s (XLY) 3.3% gains over the same time frame.
Shares of CCL rose more than 24% in June as the company reported solid Q2 results and optimistic guidance for this year and 2025. Despite beginning the month on a somber note following a note by Bank of America analyst Andrew Didora, who mentioned that cruise prices had come down slightly in June compared to May, CCL continued its strong start to the year by reporting adjusted EPS of $0.11, which beat the consensus loss per share estimates of $0.10. The company’s revenue rose 17.7% year over year to $5.78 billion, surpassing Wall Street expectations of $5.66 billion. The cumulative booked position for the rest of 2024 is the best on record in both price and occupancy.
For the full year 2024, CCL expects net yields to rise approximately 10.25% compared to 2023, up 75 basis points from the previous guidance in March. It also raised its adjusted EBITDA guidance by $200 million to $5.83 billion, up nearly 40% from 2023. Moreover, it raised adjusted net income guidance by $275 million to $1.55 billion. CCL reported that the cumulative booked position for the full year 2025 is even higher than 2024 in both price and occupancy.
Analysts’ consensus opinion on CCL stock is bullish, with a “Strong Buy” rating overall. Out of 21 analysts covering the stock, 17 advise a “Strong Buy” rating, one has a “Moderate Buy” rating, two recommend a “Hold” rating, and one gives a “Strong Sell.” The average analyst price target for CCL is $22.61, indicating a 32.1% potential upside from the current levels.
On the date of publication, Dipanjan Banchur did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
