Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $30.62, but opened at $32.21. Carnival shares last traded at $29.78, with a volume of 21,031,266 shares.

The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.09 billion. Carnival had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 9.72%.Carnival’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. Carnival has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.230-0.230 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 2.140-2.140 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CCL shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Carnival from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut Carnival from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Carnival from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Carnival from $34.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carnival presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Carnival

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 12,500 shares of Carnival stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total transaction of $371,875.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 64,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,916,078.50. The trade was a 16.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CCL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Carnival by 6.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 126,663,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,561,777,000 after acquiring an additional 7,157,739 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Carnival by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 45,523,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,280,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,531,495 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Carnival by 7.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,617,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906,110 shares in the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Carnival in the 1st quarter worth about $518,816,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carnival in the 1st quarter valued at about $432,718,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company’s stock.

Carnival Stock Down 3.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $34.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 2.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.32.

About Carnival

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.