Argus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Stock Price

Key Points

• Argus cut Carnival’s price target from $35 to $30 while maintaining a “Buy” rating, implying roughly 22% upside from the prior close.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: Carnival has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $34.06, with 21 analysts rating the stock Buy or Strong Buy.
• Carnival exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, but its $0.20 fourth-quarter EPS guidance trails consensus and rising fuel costs are weighing on near-term sentiment.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by Argus from $35.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Argus' price target points to a potential upside of 21.96% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Melius Research set a $36.00 target price on Carnival in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Carnival from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Carnival in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Carnival from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carnival currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.06.

Carnival Price Performance

NYSE CCL opened at $24.60 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $25.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 2.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Carnival has a 12-month low of $21.45 and a 12-month high of $34.03.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 29th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.39 billion. Carnival had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 24.83%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Carnival has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.200-0.200 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.240-2.240 EPS. Analysts forecast that Carnival will post 2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carnival

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC grew its position in Carnival by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 26,729,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $816,320,000 after buying an additional 364,529 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Carnival by 2,954.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 19,851,000 shares of the company's stock worth $60,625,000 after acquiring an additional 19,201,000 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Carnival by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,904,029 shares of the company's stock worth $411,372,000 after acquiring an additional 834,885 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Carnival by 67.3% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 6,770,304 shares of the company's stock valued at $193,428,000 after acquiring an additional 2,723,171 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Carnival by 2,432.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,689,954 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425,822 shares in the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Carnival News

Here are the key news stories impacting Carnival this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record Q3 results and resilient demand support the long-term outlook. Carnival reported adjusted EPS of $1.43 and revenue of $8.44 billion, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.35 and $8.39 billion. Net income reached approximately $1.9 billion, while net yields and revenue were records. Carnival Corporation Q3 results
• Positive Sentiment: Bookings provide visibility into 2027. About half of Carnival’s 2027 inventory is booked at record occupancy and pricing, and customer deposits reached $7.6 billion. The company is limiting capacity growth to roughly 0.5%, which could help preserve pricing power and net yields. CCL Q3 earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year guidance was raised. Carnival now expects fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of approximately $2.24, above the roughly $2.22 consensus estimate. Analysts remain broadly constructive, with Mizuho retaining an Outperform rating and a $38 price target despite a modest reduction. Carnival average price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity points to continued bullish speculation. Traders purchased more than 100,000 Carnival call options, approximately double the average daily volume, indicating elevated interest in further upside but also potentially increasing short-term volatility. Carnival call options activity
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term guidance and costs are weighing on sentiment. Carnival’s fourth-quarter EPS forecast of $0.20 is below the approximately $0.25 analyst consensus. Fuel costs rose sharply, pressuring margins, and several analysts lowered price targets after the earnings report. The stock may also be experiencing profit-taking following its large earnings-driven advance. Analysts cut Carnival forecasts

About Carnival

Carnival Corporation & plc NYSE: CCL is a global leisure travel company that operates cruise lines and related vacation businesses. Its brands offer ocean cruises, onboard entertainment, dining, accommodation, excursions and other travel experiences to passengers across a range of price points and destinations.

The company's portfolio includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, P&O Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia, AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises.

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