© Reuters Carnival Corp (CCL) upgraded at JPMorgan as cruise demand shows ‘zero signs’ of slowing momentum
Investing.com — JPMorgan analysts upgraded shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:) to Overweight from Neutral, raising the price target on the stock to $16 from $11 in a note to clients Monday.
The analysts also raised the Royal Caribbean (NYSE:) price target to $103 from $100 and the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE:) price target to $16 from $15 per share.
Shares in all three firms climbed in early U.S. trading on Monday.
Analysts said their firm hosted senior management meetings with Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean as part of its “Come Cruise w/ Us” event in Miami.
“Importantly, the two-fold takeaway from the ‘Big 3’ was (1) bullish tone on current trends (& 1H24 bookings) with zero signs of momentum slowing (& no change in historical lead indicators) as pent-up loyalist demand a year ago transitions to new-to-cruise strength today and (2) increased balance sheet flexibility w/ ample liquidity for debt pay-down (& no plans for equity issuance across the Big 3),” the analysts wrote.
They added that a key theme across from the visits was all management teams speaking about continued demand momentum with “no signs of softness cited in any single forward indicator by historical measure.”
“Importantly, management teams broadly cited today’s booking curve as in the sweet spot (historically, ~6-9 months) providing ~85% visibility into 2023 bookings and ~25% into 2024 as of today by our math (farther out visibility = key difference from our broader retail coverage),” analysts added.
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