Carnival Corporation Ltd.: Beat — EPS $1.43, Revenue $8.44B
Earnings Report· 2026-09-29
CCL
Q3 · 2026Pre-MarketCarnival Corporation Ltd.
@trystockwhiz
EARNING PER SHARE
Actual ($)
1.43
0.00% YoY
Expected
1.35
Beat
+5.93%
REVENUE
Actual ($)
8.44B
3.50% YoY
Expected
8.39B
Beat
+0.54%
Earning Report
| Metric | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | YoY Change % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $8.44B | $8.15B | +3.5% |
| └─Passenger ticket | $5.53B | $5.43B | +1.8% |
| └─Onboard and other | $2.91B | $2.72B | +6.7% |
| Net Income | $1.92B | $1.85B | +3.7% |
| GAAP Basic EPS | $1.41 | $1.41 | +0.0% |
| GAAP Diluted EPS | $1.40 | $1.33 | +5.3% |
| Adjusted Diluted EPS | $1.43 | $1.43 | +0.0% |
Financial Outlook / Guidance
| Metric | Q4 2026 Outlook | FY 2026 Outlook |
|---|---|---|
| Net yields (Current Dollars) | Approx. 2.3% | Approx. 3.8% |
| Net yields (Constant Currency) | Approx. 1.7% | Approx. 2.3% |
| Net yields (adjusted) | Approx. 2.3% | Approx. 2.7% |
| Adjusted cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD (Current Dollars) | Approx. 1.9% | Approx. 3.5% |
| Adjusted cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD (Constant Currency) | Approx. 1.7% | Approx. 2.2% |
| Adjusted cruise costs excluding fuel per ALBD (adjusted) | — | Approx. 1.1% |
| ALBDs | 24.1M | 97.4M |
| Capacity growth | (0.1)% | 1.0% |
| Fuel consumption | 0.7M metric tons | 2.7M metric tons |
| Fuel cost per metric ton | $896 | $768 |
| Fuel expense | $0.64B | $2.25B |
| Depreciation and amortization expense | $0.75B | $2.92B |
| Interest expense | $0.26B | $1.08B |
| Adjusted EBITDA | Approx. $1.30B | Approx. $7.14B |
| Adjusted net income | Approx. $274M | Approx. $3,080M (> $150M vs June guidance) |
| Adjusted EPS - diluted | Approx. $0.20 | Approx. $2.24 |
| Weighted-average shares outstanding - basic | 1,352M | 1,369M |
| Adjusted weighted-average shares outstanding - diluted | 1,358M | 1,376M |
| Newbuild capital expenditures | $0.3B | — |
| Non-newbuild capital expenditures | $0.9B | — |
Business Highlights
- ➤Celebration Key welcomed almost 2.5 million guests during its first year in Grand Bahama.
- ➤RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay and Isla Tropicale each welcomed more than 250,000 guests after enhancements.
- ➤Carnival Cruise Line launched Carnival Rewards on September 1.
- ➤Co-branded credit-card issuances increased over 300% following the Carnival Rewards launch.
- ➤Carnival Cruise Line unveiled Carnival Destiny, its first next-generation Ace class ship, arriving in 2029.
- ➤Holland America Line selected Zuiderdam for transformation under its Evolution program.
- ➤Princess Cruises launched a native ChatGPT app with real-time cruise pricing and availability.
- ➤S&P upgraded Carnival's credit rating, its second investment-grade rating agency designation.
- ➤Carnival has no remaining secured debt following the S&P upgrade.
- ➤Returned $204M in quarterly dividends; year-to-date dividends reached $618M.
- ➤Released its 16th annual sustainability report, Doing Business Responsibly from Ship to Shore.
- ➤Named to TIME's World's Best Companies 2026 and America's Best Companies 2026.
Management Commentary
Josh Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer
“We delivered another quarter of top and bottom-line records, with accelerating demand and even stronger cost discipline driving results ahead of our expectations. This performance reinforces the underlying trajectory of our business and the consistency of our commercial execution, as evidenced by our sustained track record of high-quality same-ship yield growth. Our world-class cruise lines and destinations, exceptional guest experiences delivered by the best team in travel and leisure, and enhanced demand-generation against intentionally measured capacity growth position us to continue driving higher returns. At the same time, we are putting our increasingly durable cash flow to work, reinvesting in our business while returning more capital to shareholders.”
Josh Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer
“Our booking trends continued to strengthen throughout the quarter, with volumes meaningfully ahead of last year and far outpacing capacity growth. This momentum underscores the effectiveness of our demand generation efforts and the enduring appeal of our cruise lines.”
Josh Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer
“For full-year 2027, both booked occupancy and pricing(3) are at record levels, providing a strong foundation for another year of solid yield growth. Looking further ahead, 2028 is also off to an excellent start at higher occupancy and prices than last year.”
Josh Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer
“Customer deposits, another key leading indicator, also reached a third-quarter record of $7.6 billion, surpassing the prior-year record by $0.5 billion despite flat capacity growth over the next twelve months.”
Josh Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer
“Taken together, the ongoing strength we are seeing across our record booking curve, which has extended out even further, reinforces our confidence in the durability of demand for our cruise lines and the earnings power of our business.”
David Bernstein, Chief Financial Officer
“Our strong operating cash flow enabled us to continue strengthening our financial position while advancing our commitment to return value to shareholders.”
David Bernstein, Chief Financial Officer
“With nearly $1.2 billion of share repurchases so far this year — nearly $800 million since the beginning of the third quarter — and our ongoing dividend program, we are making meaningful progress toward our PROPEL target of distributing cash to our shareholders, responsibly. During the third quarter we were also able to use cash on hand to opportunistically redeem $500 million of seven percent coupon notes, which were among our highest coupon debt. Even with the substantial capital we are returning to shareholders, we continue to expect year-over-year improvement in our balance sheet and leverage metrics.”