Carnival Q1 Earnings Reflect Pricing Strength Analyst Says: 'Solid Beat Across The Board'

Shares of Carnival Corp CCL tanked in early trading on Thursday, after the company reported earnings for its first quarter.

The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways from the release.

• JPMorgan analyst Matthew Boss reiterated an Overweight rating, while raising the price target from $22 to $23.
• Stifel analyst Steven Wieczynski reaffirmed a Buy rating, while lowering the price target from $26 to $25.
• Goldman Sachs analyst Lizzie Dove maintained a Buy rating, while lifting the price target from $20 to $22.
• BofA Securities analyst Andrew Didora reiterated a Buy rating and price target of $23.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.
JPMorgan: Carnival reported a narrower-than-expected loss for its first quarter, “with upside across both the top and bottom line,” Boss said in a note. CEO Josh Weinstein indicated that all nine brands of the company are improving, with two brands “fully recovered,” he added.

Weinstein also said that Carnival is now “even better positioned” for 2025 than it did a year ago, “clarifying current demand momentum as more than pent-up demand,” with a healthy mix of “new-to-cruise” in the bookings to date for 2025 and customer deposits up 40% versus 2019 levels, the analyst further stated.

Stifel: Carnival delivered a “solid beat across the board," Wieczynski said. He added that the company’s guidance appears conservative.

“As we sit here today, there is no doubt in our mind that if consumer demand stays status quo, CCL’s revised ~$5.6B EBITDA guidance should end up well north of $5.8B,” the analyst further wrote.
Goldman Sachs: “Demand and pricing strength were the key bright spots in our view, with ‘24 mostly booked, 2025 in a better booked position than 2024 was this time last year, and pricing considerably higher y/y in 2024,” Dove wrote. Carnival’s net yield is likely to be “driven more by underlying pricing growth than occupancy than we originally had thought."

Onboard revenues came in slightly lower than expected “due to a higher occupancy recovery in Europe where passengers spend less,” the analyst stated. She added, however, that the key data is spending in the casino, “which we estimate is ~25% of North America onboard revenue spend (vs. relatively small for Europe).”

BofA Securities: Carnival reported “solid” quarterly results, “driven by stronger net yields ($30M) and favorable timing shiſts in expenses ($50M),” Didora said. The company’s guidance for the second quarter and full year was broadly as expected, he added.

“Stronger bookings and net yields drove the new outlook, which served as an offset to the Red Sea rerouting impacts that were announced last month,” the analyst further stated.

CCL Price Action: Shares of Carnival had declined by 3.69% to $16.56 at the time of publication on Thursday.

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