Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Releases Q4 2026 Earnings Guidance

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) updated its fourth quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 0.200-0.200 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.250. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Carnival also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 2.240-2.240 EPS.

Carnival Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Carnival stock opened at $24.60 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.32. Carnival has a 12-month low of $21.45 and a 12-month high of $34.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $33.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.31.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 29th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. Carnival had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 24.83%. The firm had revenue of $8.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Carnival has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.200-0.200 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.240-2.240 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Carnival will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carnival Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Carnival’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on CCL shares. Weiss Ratings cut Carnival from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Carnival from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on Carnival from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Carnival from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Carnival from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carnival presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.36.

Carnival News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Carnival this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record Q3 results and resilient demand support the long-term outlook. Carnival reported adjusted EPS of $1.43 and revenue of $8.44 billion, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.35 and $8.39 billion. Net income reached approximately $1.9 billion, while net yields and revenue were records. Carnival Corporation Q3 results
• Positive Sentiment: Bookings provide visibility into 2027. About half of Carnival’s 2027 inventory is booked at record occupancy and pricing, and customer deposits reached $7.6 billion. The company is limiting capacity growth to roughly 0.5%, which could help preserve pricing power and net yields. CCL Q3 earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year guidance was raised. Carnival now expects fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of approximately $2.24, above the roughly $2.22 consensus estimate. Analysts remain broadly constructive, with Mizuho retaining an Outperform rating and a $38 price target despite a modest reduction. Carnival average price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity points to continued bullish speculation. Traders purchased more than 100,000 Carnival call options, approximately double the average daily volume, indicating elevated interest in further upside but also potentially increasing short-term volatility. Carnival call options activity
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term guidance and costs are weighing on sentiment. Carnival’s fourth-quarter EPS forecast of $0.20 is below the approximately $0.25 analyst consensus. Fuel costs rose sharply, pressuring margins, and several analysts lowered price targets after the earnings report. The stock may also be experiencing profit-taking following its large earnings-driven advance. Analysts cut Carnival forecasts

Carnival Company Profile

Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL) is a global leisure travel company that operates cruise lines and related vacation businesses. Its brands offer ocean cruises, onboard entertainment, dining, accommodation, excursions and other travel experiences to passengers across a range of price points and destinations.

The company’s portfolio includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, P&O Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia, AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises.