William Blair Issues Pessimistic Estimate for RCL Earnings

Key Points

• William Blair analysts have revised their earnings estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., lowering the Q3 2025 EPS forecast from $5.82 to $5.65, while maintaining an "Outperform" rating on the stock.
• Royal Caribbean Cruises reported a strong Q2 earnings of $4.38 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.04, indicating a 10.4% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.75, yielding an annualized dividend of $3.00, and its dividend payout ratio is currently at 24.92%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at William Blair decreased their Q3 2025 earnings estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note issued on Tuesday, July 29th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now forecasts that the company will earn $5.65 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $5.82. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Royal Caribbean Cruises' current full-year earnings is $14.90 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises' Q4 2025 earnings at $2.80 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $15.54 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $18.31 EPS.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.04 by $0.34. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 47.15%. The business had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.21 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $311.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $390.00 to $399.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $235.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $263.00 to $358.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $321.10.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock traded down $3.75 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $314.12. 2,827,375 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,165,557. The company has a market cap of $85.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 2.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a twelve month low of $130.08 and a twelve month high of $355.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $302.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $253.80.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 4th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is currently 22.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,600 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.10, for a total transaction of $4,960,760.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 165,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,868,055.10. The trade was a 10.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 5,207 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.47, for a total transaction of $1,715,550.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,826 shares in the company, valued at $2,578,432.22. This trade represents a 39.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 6.95% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,712,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,854,905,000 after buying an additional 278,860 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,674,763 shares of the company's stock worth $5,890,943,000 after purchasing an additional 602,447 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company's stock worth $1,373,856,000 after purchasing an additional 353,893 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 21.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,991,079 shares of the company's stock worth $614,487,000 after purchasing an additional 535,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,653,258 shares of the company's stock worth $612,080,000 after purchasing an additional 513,702 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.