Royal Caribbean shares gain as earnings growth forecasts hold steady
The cruise operator outpaced the tracked market composite over the past month, while analysts maintained their current-year earnings estimate.
Royal Caribbean shares returned 12.9% during the preceding month, compared with a 2.1% increase for the Zacks S&P 500 composite, according to Zacks.
For the current quarter, Royal Caribbean was expected to report earnings of $6.37 per share. That forecast would represent a 10.8% increase from the same period a year earlier.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate put the cruise company’s current fiscal-year earnings at $17.79 per share, indicating anticipated year-over-year growth of 13.8%. The estimate had remained unchanged during the previous 30 days.
For Royal Caribbean’s next fiscal year, the consensus estimate stood at $20.12 per share. That projection represented an expected increase of 13.1% from the prior-year expectation.
Zacks assigned Royal Caribbean a Rank No. 3, equivalent to a Hold rating. The rating reflected the scale of the latest change in the consensus estimate together with three other earnings-estimate factors, according to the firm.