A Tale of Two Cruise Line Stocks
Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line were passing ships, but that's not a new itinerary for investors.
Last week was pretty jarring for investors figuring that cruise line stocks were essentially all in the same boat. Market cap leader Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) put out an encouraging quarterly report on Tuesday. Smaller rival Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH) went the other way when it served up its latest financial results a day later.
Royal Caribbean posted better-than-expected growth through the first three months of this year, particularly on the bottom line. NCL saw year-over-year declines, particularly on the bottom line. There's a lot to unpack here, but the joy of a cruise getaway is that you only have to unpack once when you start a exploring the various ports of call. Bring a sense of adventure -- and perhaps some Dramamine -- as we head into the high and low seas.
Royal Caribbean saw its revenue rise 7% during the seasonally sleepy first quarter for the industry. This is its weakest top-line growth since resuming operations in late 2021 after the COVID-19-mandated shutdown, but the showing was in line with expectations. It was on the bottom line that Royal Caribbean really got going. Adjusted earnings soared 57% to $2.71 a share, well ahead of the $2.53 a share that Wall Street pros were modeling.
