What the Options Market Tells Us About Carnival

Investors with a lot of money to spend have taken a bearish stance on Carnival CCL.

And retail traders should know.

We noticed this today when the trades showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.

Whether these are institutions or just wealthy individuals, we don't know. But when something this big happens with CCL, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.

So how do we know what these investors just did?

Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 17 uncommon options trades for Carnival.

This isn't normal.

The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 23% bullish and 70%, bearish.

Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 10 are puts, for a total amount of $555,266, and 7 are calls, for a total amount of $368,094.

What's The Price Target?

After evaluating the trading volumes and Open Interest, it's evident that the major market movers are focusing on a price band between $18.0 and $35.0 for Carnival, spanning the last three months.

Volume & Open Interest Trends

Looking at the volume and open interest is an insightful way to conduct due diligence on a stock.

This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Carnival's options for a given strike price.

Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Carnival's whale activity within a strike price range from $18.0 to $35.0 in the last 30 days.

Carnival Call and Put Volume: 30-Day Overview

Noteworthy Options Activity:

About Carnival

Carnival is the largest global cruise company, with more than 90 ships in service at the end of fiscal 2024. Its portfolio of brands includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn in North America; P&O Cruises and Cunard Line in the United Kingdom; Aida in Germany; Costa Cruises in Southern Europe. It's currently folding its P&O Australia brand into Carnival. The firm also owns Holland America Princess Alaska Tours in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Carnival's brands attracted 14 million guests in 2024.

In light of the recent options history for Carnival, it's now appropriate to focus on the company itself. We aim to explore its current performance.

Current Position of Carnival

• Trading volume stands at 16,171,776, with CCL's price down by -8.36%, positioned at $23.91.
• RSI indicators show the stock to be may be approaching oversold.
• Earnings announcement expected in 34 days.

Professional Analyst Ratings for Carnival

Over the past month, 2 industry analysts have shared their insights on this stock, proposing an average target price of $27.5.

Turn $1000 into $1270 in just 20 days?

20-year pro options trader reveals his one-line chart technique that shows when to buy and sell. Copy his trades, which have had averaged a 27% profit every 20 days. Click here for access. * Reflecting concerns, an analyst from Loop Capital lowers its rating to Hold with a new price target of $25. * Maintaining their stance, an analyst from Truist Securities continues to hold a Hold rating for Carnival, targeting a price of $30.

Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.

If you want to stay updated on the latest options trades for Carnival, Benzinga Pro gives you real-time options trades alerts.