Carnival Shares Decline Despite Record Q3 Results and Increased Guidance

Carnival Corporation recently disclosed impressive third-quarter operating results, exceeding analyst expectations and increasing its full-year guidance for the third time this year. Nevertheless, the company’s shares declined by more than 2% in early trading, indicating that investors may have anticipated an even stronger performance or more optimistic guidance.

For the quarter, Carnival reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.27, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.17. Revenue reached a record high of $7.89 billion, slightly above the forecasts of $7.82 billion, and showing an increase of $1.0 billion year-over-year.

Net income for the third quarter was $1.7 billion, reflecting a 60% rise compared to the same quarter last year. The company achieved record operating income of $2.2 billion, which is $554 million more than the levels reported in 2023.

Carnival has raised its full-year 2024 adjusted EBITDA guidance to approximately $6.0 billion, representing over a 40% rise compared to 2023 and about $200 million higher than its prior forecast. The company now anticipates net yields in constant currency to increase by around 10.4% for the full year in comparison to 2023.

Chief Executive Officer Josh Weinstein stated, “We delivered a phenomenal third quarter, breaking operational records and outperforming across the board. We are poised to deliver record operating performance for the full year 2024.”

Looking ahead, Carnival is experiencing strong booking momentum for 2025, with cumulative advanced bookings exceeding the previous 2024 record and prices in constant currency ahead of last year.

“We have nearly half of 2025 booked and less inventory available for sale than the prior year, allowing us to leverage strong demand to achieve record ticket pricing,” Weinstein noted.

Despite the positive results and buoyant outlook, Carnival’s stock unexpectedly dropped over 2% following the announcement.