Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) versus Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) Financial Review

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) and Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) are both large-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Royal Caribbean Cruises has a beta of 1.77, indicating that its share price is 77% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Airbnb has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Royal Caribbean Cruises and Airbnb, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Royal Caribbean Cruises	1	5	14	1	2.71
Airbnb	1	13	22	2	2.66

Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has a consensus target price of $344.79, suggesting a potential upside of 24.71%. Airbnb has a consensus target price of $157.76, suggesting a potential upside of 17.02%. Given Royal Caribbean Cruises’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Royal Caribbean Cruises is more favorable than Airbnb.

Profitability

This table compares Royal Caribbean Cruises and Airbnb’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Royal Caribbean Cruises	24.36%	45.25%	11.13%
Airbnb	19.90%	31.24%	10.16%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.5% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.8% of Airbnb shares are held by institutional investors. 6.4% of Royal Caribbean Cruises shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 27.2% of Airbnb shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Royal Caribbean Cruises and Airbnb”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Royal Caribbean Cruises	$18.39 billion	4.03	$4.27 billion	$16.39	16.87
Airbnb	$12.65 billion	6.42	$2.51 billion	$4.06	33.21

Royal Caribbean Cruises has higher revenue and earnings than Airbnb. Royal Caribbean Cruises is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Airbnb, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Royal Caribbean Cruises beats Airbnb on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Miami, Florida.

About Airbnb

Airbnb, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates a platform that enables hosts to offer stays and experiences to guests worldwide. The company’s marketplace connects hosts and guests online or through mobile devices to book spaces and experiences. It primarily offers private rooms, primary homes, and vacation homes. The company was formerly known as AirBed & Breakfast, Inc. and changed its name to Airbnb, Inc. in November 2010. Airbnb, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.