Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) stock jumped during intraday trading Wednesday as Mizuho raised its price target on stronger-than-expected Q2 2024 results.
Mizuho Securities revised its financial outlook for Carnival (NYSE: CCL), raising the price target to $22.00 from $21.00 and maintaining an Outperform rating on the stock. This decision follows Carnival’s impressive second-quarter earnings report, which beat estimates, and a positive guidance for the third quarter.
Carnival reported second-quarter EBITDA of $1.19 billion, surpassing Mizuho’s estimate of $1.07 billion. The cruise operator also achieved net yields of 12%, outpacing the estimated 10.50%, and reduced costs by 0.20%, contrary to the expected increase of 3.16%. These results underscore the company’s effective margin and operational leverage improvements, key factors in Mizuho’s investment thesis.
Carnival expects the positive trend to continue into the third quarter. The cruise operator has guided towards an EBITDA of $2.66 billion, slightly below Mizuho’s projection of $2.69 billion but above the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. In addition, the company forecasts net yields of 8% for the upcoming quarter, slightly higher than the market expectation of 7.9%. The anticipated cost increase is due to timing shifts between quarters.
Moreover, Carnival has revised its EBITDA guidance for the full fiscal year to $5.83 billion, up from the previous forecast of $5.63 billion. This revision exceeds Mizuho’s estimate of $5.67 billion and the consensus figure of $5.66 billion. The improved outlook reflects Carnival’s operational resilience and the effectiveness of its asset sales transformation strategy.
Mizuho’s adjusted price target and reaffirmed Outperform rating underscores confidence in Carnival’s ability to sustain strong financial performance and capitalize on enhanced operational efficiencies.
Carnival (NYSE: CCL) Stock Movement
On Wednesday, CCL stock rose 3.09%, closing at $18.37, marking a 15.17% increase for the week. The trading volume was 55,127,816 shares, significantly higher than the average daily volume of 31.74 million.
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