Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 17.700-18.100 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 17.690. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Royal Caribbean Cruises also updated its Q1 2026 guidance to 3.180-3.280 EPS.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 7.3%

Shares of RCL traded down $25.34 on Friday, reaching $320.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,384,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,537,551. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.16. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 12-month low of $164.01 and a 12-month high of $366.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $281.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $304.44.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 44.68% and a net margin of 23.33%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.90%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on RCL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, December 26th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold 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 $338.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total transaction of $309,936.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,234 shares in the company, valued at $4,010,571.84. This represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company raised FY‑2026 and Q1 guidance (FY EPS $17.70–$18.10 vs. consensus ~$17.69; Q1 EPS $3.18–$3.28 vs. consensus $2.94), signaling stronger‑than‑expected demand and margin recovery. ROYAL CARIBBEAN GROUP REPORTS 2025 RESULTS, ISSUES 2026 GUIDANCE
• Positive Sentiment: Management cited record bookings, strong onboard spending and an upbeat 2026 outlook that supported an above‑Street profit forecast — a core reason for the post‑earnings rally. Reuters: Royal Caribbean raises annual profit forecast
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Beach Club Paradise Island — a new private‑destination product launched Dec 2025 — is delivering strong, high‑margin results early, which management says is lifting guidance and revenue mix. Forbes: RCL Stock’s Beach Club Secret Changes Everything
• Positive Sentiment: Company continues fleet and product expansion (Discovery Class orders; Celebrity River Cruises adding 10 ships), supporting long‑term capacity and revenue growth. PR Newswire: Discovery Class announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 EPS of $2.80 matched consensus but revenue ($4.26B) missed estimates by a small amount — the quarter showed solid margin recovery but not a clean beat on top‑line. MarketBeat: Q4 results and materials
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and analyst writeups are available for detail on booking cadence, pricing and JV performance — useful for modeling but not new catalysts by themselves. Seeking Alpha: Q4 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Some coverage flagged the slight top‑line miss and noted the stock had already run up sharply (momentum up >10–14% in prior session), increasing the chance of near‑term profit‑taking and volatility. Zacks: Q4 earnings lag, stock up on robust 2026 view
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated valuation and beta, combined with lower-than‑average intraday volume, can amplify pullbacks after big moves — a risk investors appear to be pricing in today.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,576,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,433,052,000 after acquiring an additional 84,202 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,474,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $800,785,000 after purchasing an additional 65,714 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 18.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,046,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,775,000 after acquiring an additional 159,690 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 725,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,728,000 after acquiring an additional 116,623 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.3% during the third quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 377,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,270,000 after acquiring an additional 18,894 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel‑agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.