Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Releases Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) updated its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 0.170-0.170 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 0.180. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Carnival also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 2.480-2.48 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on CCL shares. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Carnival in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Carnival in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Carnival from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Carnival from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Carnival from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.00.

Carnival Trading Up 9.1%

CCL stock traded up $2.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.93. 15,846,491 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,768,170. Carnival has a 52-week low of $15.07 and a 52-week high of $32.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $27.20 and its 200-day moving average is $28.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $36.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 2.53.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.11. Carnival had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 10.07%.The company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Carnival has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.230-0.230 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 2.140-2.140 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Carnival will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Carnival by 52.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 15,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 5,452 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Carnival by 61.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $594,000 after purchasing an additional 11,601 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Carnival in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carnival in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Carnival during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carnival Company Profile

Carnival Corp. engages in the operation of cruise ships. It operates through the following business segments: North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise, Europe and Asia (EA) Cruise Operations, Cruise Support, and Tour and Others. The North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise segment includes the Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.