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Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) sailed higher in early trading after topping revenue, EPS, and adjusted EBITDA expectations with its Q3 earnings report.
The cruise line operator saw business soar during the quarter, with passengers carried up 40% year-over-year to 3.6M and passenger cruise days 46% higher to 25.8M. Carnival also posted its first post-pandemic profi, with adjusted net income of $1.18B vs. $1.01B consensus and -$688M a year ago. EPS was $0.86 vs. $0.73 consensus and -$0.58 a year ago.
CEO Josh Weinstein said the outperformance during the quarter was driven by strength in demand, with both the North America and Australia segment and Europe segment equally outperforming expectations. The update on bookings was also very positive. Carnival (CCL) said the cumulative advanced booked position for 2024 is well above the high end of the historical range at higher prices than 2023 levels. CCL said that aligns with the yield management strategy to base load bookings, lengthen the booking curve and optimize net yields. “Our booked position for 2024 is further out than we have ever seen and at strong prices,” noted Weinstein. “With less remaining inventory to sell, despite a five percent increase in capacity, we are well positioned to drive pricing higher and deliver strong yield improvement in 2024,” he added.
Shares of Carnival (CCL) fell 0.80% in morning trading on Friday. A very slight narrowing of the top end of the full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance from CCL may have rattled some investors. Royal Caribbean (RCL) traded flat and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) was down 2.15% after the Carnival (CCL) report.
