Why Carnival Investors Are Celebrating Today

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) posted solid top- and bottom-line quarterly growth, topping Wall Street expectations.

Investors are saying full steam ahead, sending shares of Carnival up 9% as of 10 a.m ET.

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Image source: Carnival.

Better-than-expected results

With so much talk of tariffs and economic uncertainty, there was every reason to worry about cruise line stocks and other travel companies heading into earnings season. But Carnival delivered for investors, posting earnings per share of $0.35 and revenue of $6.3 billion, well ahead of Wall Street's consensus estimate of $0.24 per share on sales of $6.2 billion.

If some potential customers did back out, it appears Carnival had no trouble backfilling that inventory. Revenue was up 10% year over year, and Carnival ended the quarter with an all-time high of $8.5 billion in customer deposits.

The company said it topped its fiscal 2026 financial targets 18 months ahead of schedule, posting a return on invested capital that, at 12.5%, is the highest level in nearly two decades.

Is Carnival stock a buy?

Management is optimistic about the quarters to come. Carnival is forecasting full-year net yields about 5% above 2024 levels, and now expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to be about 10% better than last year.

"Our strong results, booked position and outlook are a testament to the success of our ongoing strategy to deliver same-ship, high-margin revenue growth," CEO Josh Weinstein said in a statement. "We continue to set ourselves up well for 2026 and beyond, with so much more potential to take our margins, returns and results even higher over time."

Carnival sees no macro tidal wave looming. If that's the case, the stock could cruise higher from here.

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Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Carnival Corp. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.