Keep an eye on Carnival (CCL).
The company just said future bookings hit record volumes, and reported an increase in demand. According to a company press release, the company is “enjoying a phenomenal wave season, achieving our highest ever quarterly booking volumes and breaking records in both North America and Europe. Our strong performance has extended into March and we expect this favorable trend to continue based on the success of our efforts to drive demand.”
Also, for the first quarter of 2023, Carnival posted total revenues of $4.42 billion, a figure that represented 95% “of 2019 levels” and marked a 173% rise from the same period in the prior year. It included $2.87 billion from passenger ticketing.
Helping, analysts at Wells Fargo just upgraded the CCL stock to equal weight, with a $9 target. As noted by Seeking Alpha, “Analyst Daniel Politzer and team noted the Carnival balance sheet is in better shape with no major refinancing, a lower percentage of floating-rate debt, and no imminent need to raise capital.”
“The Europe business, which represents 30% of revenue historically, was called resilient with strong close-in demand and a booking window that’s being extended. In addition, Carnival’s FY23 EBITDA guidance or $3.90B to $4.10B is reasonable.”
Barclays also raised its price target on CCL to $13 from $12. And Stifel just said the setup for CCL shares is “overly compelling.” Technically, after finding support around $8.50, the stock is starting to pivot higher. Last trading at $9.29, we’d like to see it run back to $11 initially.
