Carnival assumed with a Neutral at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Daniel Adam assumed coverage of Carnival with an unchanged Neutral rating and price target of $13, down from $36. While the stock has meaningfully underperformed year-to-date, the underperformance has been largely justified given Carnival’s apparent discount-to-fill pricing model, aging fleet, and exposure to rising fuel costs, Adam tells investors in a research note. The analyst says Carnival is the only major publicly-traded cruise operator that doesn’t hedge. For the analyst to get more positive on the stock, he needs to be convinced that short-term occupancy gains are not coming at the expense of long-term pricing.