Bull of the Day: Carnival (CCL)
Carnival Corp. & plc CCL recently posted another record quarter. People are still cruising. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to grow earnings by 47.9% this year.
Carnival is the largest global cruise company. It’s brands include Carnival Cruise Line, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Seabourn.
Carnival Beat For the 12th Consecutive Quarter
On Sep 29, 2025, Carnival reported it’s third quarter 2025 results and beat on the Zacks Consensus. It was the 12th consecutive earnings surprise.
Earnings were $1.43, beating the Zacks Consensus of $1.32 by $0.11.
Revenue was a record of $8.2 billion, up over $250 million from the year ago quarter on lower capacity. This was the 10th consecutive quarter that Carnival has posted record revenue.
Gross margin yields were 6.4% higher than last year.
All-time high net yields were 4.6% higher than 2024 and outperformed the company’s June guidance by 1.1 points driven by strong demand and onboard spending.
Carnival’s exclusive Celebration Key beach destination in the Bahamas also opened in the quarter and should be a growth catalyst for 2026.
Carnival Booking Trends Remain Strong
Everyone has been watching the leisure and hospitality companies for clues about the strength of the consumer. But Carnival isn’t seeing any slowdown.
Since May, Carnival’s booking trends have continued to strengthen. It has higher booking volumes than last year and is far outpacing capacity growth.
It has already booked nearly half of 2026, which is in line with last year’s record levels at the same time, but Carnival has been able to get historical high prices for North America and Europe segments.
Bookings have started for 2027 cruises. Carnival said it was already off to a great start, achieving record booking volumes in the third quarter.
Carnival Raises Full Year 2025 Margin Guidance
Carnival is bullish after another strong quarter. It raised its net yields guidance to up 5.3% compared to 2024. That is up 0.3 percentage points over the June guidance.
The analysts are bullish as well. 6 estimates were raised for both 2025 and 2026 in the last month.
The 2025 Zacks Consensus Estimate jumped to $2.10 from $2.00 during that time. That is earnings growth of 47.9% as the company made just $1.42 in 2024.
But 2026 also looks strong with another 12.9% in earnings growth expected. This is what it looks like on the price and consensus chart.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Carnival Shares are on Sale
Carnival shares recently hit a new 5-year high but have retreated from that in the last month.
Over the last 30 days, shares are down 10.2%, although they still remain higher on the year, up 13.8%. That is underperforming the S&P 500 by 1%, as it is up 14.8% year-to-date.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Carnival is cheaper on the pullback. It’s now trading with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.7. A P/E ratio under 15 usually indicates a stock is a value.
Carnival also has a PEG ratio of 0.6. A PEG ratio under 1.0 indicates a company has both value and growth.
For investors looking for a company with record revenue, but is still trading at a discount, Carnival should be on your short list.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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