Carnival (NYSE:CCL), which operates a fleet of over 100 cruise ships across various brands, closed Friday’s session at $31.12, up 9.8% on strong earnings, dividend news, and guidance. Carnival IPO’d in 1987 and has grown 690% since going public. Trading volume today reached 83.3 million shares, which is approximately 250% above its three-month average of 23.3 million shares.
Friday’s catalyst was Carnival’s record full-year 2025 profits, its reinstated dividend, and an upbeat 2026 outlook.
The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) added 0.88% to close near 6,835, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) climbed 1.31% to finish around 23,308. Among Cruise Lines, industry peers Royal Caribbean and Norwegian also advanced, as investors are focusing on sector-wide booking strength and recent upgrades following Norwegian’s $1 billion EBITDA milestone.
Carnival delivered record full-year revenue and adjusted earnings per share when it reported fourth-quarter earnings this morning. Despite falling slightly short of Wall Street’s sales estimate, Carnival’s stock surged as management provided a rosy outlook for the next two years, driven by record bookings for 2026 and 2027.
If all these record-setting figures weren’t enough, Carnival announced that it was reinstating its quarterly dividend at $0.15 per share, following its $10 billion debt reduction since 2023. This would result in a 1.9% dividend yield at today’s share price.
Guiding for adjusted EBITDA of $7.63 billion in 2026, Carnival only trades at 8.3x next year’s EBITDA guidance, so it could be an intriguing investment at today’s reasonable valuation.
Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.
On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:
Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you’d have $451,671!*
Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you’d have $51,781!*
Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you’d have $506,935!*
Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for three incredible companies, available when you join Stock Advisor, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.
