Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Stock Price Target Cut by Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho lowered Carnival’s price target from $39 to $38 while maintaining an “outperform” rating, implying approximately 52% upside from the stock’s previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: Carnival has an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $34.32, despite mixed recent target revisions from other firms.
• Carnival exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, but investors should weigh ongoing risks including high leverage, rising fuel costs and below-consensus fourth-quarter EPS guidance.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by equities researchers at Mizuho from $39.00 to $38.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Mizuho's price objective indicates a potential upside of 51.97% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Carnival from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Carnival from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Carnival from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Carnival from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Carnival from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.32.

Carnival Price Performance

Shares of CCL stock opened at $25.00 on Wednesday. Carnival has a 12 month low of $21.45 and a 12 month high of $34.03. The company has a market capitalization of $34.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 29th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.08. Carnival had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 11.24%.The business had revenue of $8.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. Carnival's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Carnival has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.200-0.200 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.240-2.240 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Carnival will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen LLC lifted its stake in Carnival by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 26,729,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $816,320,000 after purchasing an additional 364,529 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Carnival by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,904,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $411,372,000 after purchasing an additional 834,885 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Carnival by 2,432.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,689,954 shares of the company's stock worth $204,311,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425,822 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Carnival by 67.3% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 6,770,304 shares of the company's stock worth $193,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,723,171 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Carnival by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,930,139 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,566,000 after purchasing an additional 872,127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Carnival

Here are the key news stories impacting Carnival this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly earnings beat expectations: Carnival reported adjusted EPS of $1.43 versus consensus estimates near $1.35–$1.36, while revenue reached a record $8.44 billion, above expectations of approximately $8.3–$8.4 billion. Net income was $1.92 billion, supported by record revenue and net yields. Carnival Corporation Q3 2026 results
• Positive Sentiment: Demand remains resilient: Carnival said 2027 bookings, occupancy and pricing are at record levels, with customer deposits reaching $7.6 billion. Booking volumes are meaningfully ahead of last year and are outpacing capacity growth, reinforcing expectations for continued pricing power. Carnival Q3 earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year outlook was raised: Carnival now expects approximately $2.24 in adjusted 2026 EPS, slightly above the roughly $2.22 analyst consensus, and increased its adjusted net income outlook by more than $150 million. The company also reduced debt below $24 billion and has repurchased approximately $1.2 billion of stock year to date. Carnival guidance and bookings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive but valuation targets were mixed: BNP Paribas Exane lowered its price target from $33 to $31 while maintaining an “outperform” rating. The broader analyst target average was reported near $34.45, implying additional potential upside if demand and earnings momentum persist.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost and near-term guidance risks remain: Fuel costs rose 36% year over year and reduced gross-margin yields, although Carnival cut fuel consumption by about 4%. Fourth-quarter EPS guidance of $0.20 is below the consensus estimate of $0.25, and the company’s high leverage remains a risk if interest rates or operating costs rise.

Carnival Company Profile

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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