Carnival Cruises On Q4 Earnings: What The Demand Trends Mean For Competitors Royal Caribbean, Norwegian

Carnival Corp CCL shares are sailing higher Wednesday morning after the company reported mixed financial results.

Other cruise names are riding the Carnival wave higher after management highlighted strong momentum across the industry.

What Happened: Carnival reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $3.84 billion, which missed average analyst estimates of $3.91 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.

The company reported a quarterly net loss of 85 cents per share, which beat estimates for a loss of 87 cents per share. 

"Booking volumes strengthened following the relaxation in protocols, cancellation trends are improving globally, and we have seen a measurable lengthening in the booking curve, across all brands. The momentum has continued into December, which bodes well for 2023 overall," said Josh Weinstein, CEO of Carnival. 

See Also: Carnival, FedEx And 3 Stocks To Watch Heading Into Wednesday

Why It Matters: Carnival is the largest global cruise company, followed by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd RCL and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH. Both Royal Caribbean and Norwegian reported financial results at the beginning of November.

Royal Caribbean pointed to a lot of the same trends, most notably a "substantial acceleration" in demand for 2023 sailings. Norwegian said its focus on maximizing long-term, sustainable profitability had been working as intended, "evidenced by our 2023 booked position which is equal to 2019's record levels and at record pricing."

It appears demand continues to be strong across the cruise line industry given Carnival's commentary on continued momentum leading up to the end of the year.

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian also likely benefited from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

Carnival noted that it saw "very strong" volumes when the holiday shopping season kicked off near the end of November.

The next read on the cruise industry will come when Royal Caribbean and Norwegian report fourth-quarter results. Those reports are not expected until February 2023, according to Benzinga Pro.

CCL Price Action: Carnival has a 52-week high of $23.86 and a 52-week low of $6.11.

Carnival shares were up 3.27% at $8.36 late Wednesday morning, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: courtesy of Carnival.