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World's largest cruise operator, running Carnival, Princess, Holland America and other cruise brands.
World's largest cruise operator, running Carnival, Princess, Holland America and other cruise brands.
Sells cruises well ahead of sailing, so deposits arrive early, then adds onboard spending on drinks, casino, spa and shore excursions. Ship occupancy and fare levels decide results. Since the 2020 shutdown it has sold or retired older ships and worked to repair its balance sheet.
Moat: narrow (scale, brand, installed base). Largest global fleet and multi-brand portfolio spanning mass-market to premium cruise segments.
Headquarters: Miami, Florida, US · Founded: 1972
Size Carnival (CCL) is a United States Consumer Discretionary company (Hotels/Resorts/Cruise lines) with a market value of $39.8B, the 300th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $29.58 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 12.8%, against +18.1% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 5th lowest of 10 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 5.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +9.7%); the operating margin is 16.0% (peer median 23.3%).
Valuation It trades at 12.4× forward earnings against a peer median of 24.4× (cheapest of 10).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 14% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +37%, so the hurdle is -22 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 3.6 points below its cost of capital (12.7% WACC).
Credit Carnival has 11 bonds outstanding ($13.4B), rated BBB- by the agencies and trading like BB+ at a weighted spread of 134 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 3.1% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 18 Dec 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $27.6B | $26.6B | $25.0B | $21.6B | $12.2B |
| Revenue growth | — | +6% | +16% | +77% | — |
| Gross profit | $7.98B | $7.78B | $6.83B | $4.91B | -$1.42B |
| EBITDA | $7.31B | $7.18B | $6.13B | $4.33B | -$1.49B |
| Net income | $3.14B | $2.76B | $1.92B | -$74.0M | -$6.09B |
| Free cash flow | $3.12B | $2.61B | $1.30B | $997M | -$6.61B |
| Capital expenditure | $3.65B | $3.61B | $4.63B | $3.28B | $4.94B |
| Total debt | $25.2B | $28.0B | $28.9B | $31.9B | $35.9B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnival CCL | $39.8B | +13% | +5% | 16% | 12.4× | 14.5% |
| Royal Caribbean RCL | $87.5B | +19% | +10% | 27% | 16.4× | 23.2% |
| Norwegian Cruise Line NCLH | $8.23B | +5% | +5% | 14% | 13.8× | n/a |
| Viking VIK | $39.1B | +6% | +20% | 23% | 24.4× | 19.2% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | CCL | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +13.2% | +15.6% | 4th lowest of 10 |
| 6-month return | +12.8% | +18.1% | 5th lowest of 10 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -12.1% | -3.9% | 2nd lowest of 10 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +5.2% | +9.7% | 4th lowest of 10 |
| Operating margin | 16.0% | 23.3% | 4th lowest of 10 |
| Forward P/E | 12.4× | 24.4× | cheapest of 10 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 14.5% | 19.2% | 4th least demanding of 10 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +36.6% | +27.7% | 3rd highest of 10 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -22.1 pp | -3.9 pp | 2nd least demanding of 10 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -3.6 pp | +4.3 pp | 2nd lowest of 9 |
| EV / EBITDA | 8.7× | 21.4× | cheapest of 10 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.3× | 2.7× | 4th most indebted of 10 |
| Bond spread | 134 bp | 103 bp | 2nd widest of 7 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnival CCL | United States | $39.8B | +13% | +5% | 16% | 12.4× | 14.5% | +36.6% |
| Viking VIK | United States | $39.1B | +6% | +20% | 23% | 24.4× | 19.2% | +27.0% |
| InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Sponsored ADR IHG | United States | $25.3B | +19% | +3% | 24% | 23.8× | 12.7% | +16.6% |
| Royal Caribbean RCL | United States | $87.5B | +19% | +10% | 27% | 16.4× | 23.2% | +52.0% |
| Hyatt Hotels H | United States | $17.2B | +10% | +3% | 9% | 42.4× | 27.9% | +27.7% |
| H World 1179.HK | Hong Kong | $15.3B | +3% | +13% | 27% | 18.8× | 6.2% | +19.1% |
| Marriott International MAR | United States | $107B | +18% | +6% | 16% | 32.1× | 17.9% | +19.9% |
| Airbnb ABNB | United States | $114B | +34% | +14% | 21% | 30.7× | 26.0% | +29.5% |
| Indian Hotels INDHOTEL.NS | India | $13.4B | +33% | +15% | 26% | 55.6× | 42.0% | +43.8% |
| Accor AC.PA | France | $12.8B | +12% | 0% | 16% | 22.9× | 14.4% | +28.3% |
Carnival has 11 bonds outstanding with $13.4B face value. The agencies rate it BBB-; its bonds trade like BB+. Weighted yield 5.56%, a spread of 134 bp over government bonds.