Carnival (CCL) Q3 2026 Earnings Report

The call was strongly positive. Carnival reported record revenues, yields, net income and deposits; raised full-year EPS guidance; delivered better-than-expected cost and fuel-consumption performance; described forward bookings and onboard spending as robust; and highlighted improving returns, capital returns and an investment-grade credit rating. The main challenges were higher fuel prices, residual first-quarter 2027 booking disruption, temporary loyalty-program accounting headwinds, Caribbean capacity pressure and higher expected capital expenditures.

For full year 2026, September guidance forecasts yield growth of approximately 2.3%, cruise costs, excluding fuel per ALBD, up approximately 2.2% year-over-year, full year EPS guidance of $2.24, up $0.02 from previous guidance, and operational improvement of more than $150 million in net income compared to June guidance, overcoming $150 million impact from increased fuel prices; fourth quarter year-over-year yield growth is expected to be approximately 1.7%, or approximately 2.3% on a normalized basis, while cruise costs, excluding fuel per ALBD, are expected to be up approximately 2.2% year-over-year, or approximately 1.1% on a normalized basis; for 2027, capacity is forecast to increase 0.5% compared to 2026, with occupancy and price at record levels, while Carnival Rewards creates a 0.4 point impact on full year 2027 yields; non-newbuild CapEx was $2.4 billion for 2026 and is expected to be somewhat higher than the $2.4 billion a year for the next few years, and expected EBITDA is more than $7 billion.