Carnival ends 2024 with record revenue, sails into 2025 with high expectations

Fourth quarter results from Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) underscored the remarkable growth the cruise sector has made since COVID-19 nearly capsized the industry. Carnival’s (CCL) full year 2024 revenues hit an all-time high and profits swelled by 2500% from a loss of $0.06 in 2023 to a profit of $1.44 in 2024.

“This has been an incredibly strong finish to a record year,” said Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein, adding revenues hit a record high driven by a strong demand environment that enabled the company to outperform its initial 2024 guidance by $700M and deliver nearly $2B more to the company’s bottom line year-over-year.

For Q4, higher ticket prices, higher onboard spending, and improved cost management enabled Carnival to earn a profit of $0.14 per share on a 10% increase in revenue to $5.94B, both of which exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Adjusted EBITDA increased 29% from last year to $1.2B and beat the company’s guidance by $80M, while the company’s adjusted return on capital reached 11% and is expected to increase further to 11.7% in FY25.

And even with less inventory available, booking volumes during Q4 for 2025 were higher than the prior year, despite the traditionally slower period around the election. Booking volumes for 2026 continued to break records, reflecting sustained demand for cruising.

For 2025, Carnival (CCL) expects another “banner year” with yield growth expected to outpace historical growth rates and exceed unit cost growth. Net income is expected to be 20% higher than 2024 to $2.3B, while adjusted EBITDA is forecasted to increase by ~$500M to $6.6B. The continued strength in demand is expected to increase net yields by 4.2% year-over-year.

However, due to higher dry-dock days, higher marketing expenses and operating costs for the new Celebration Key destination, Carnival (CCL) expects adjusted cruise costs (excluding fuel per available lower berth “ALBD”) will be up 3.7% from 2024.

For the first quarter, net yields are expected to be ~4.6% in constant currency, with adjusted cruise costs (excluding fuel per ALBD) to be up 3.4%.

Carnival’s (CCL) upbeat results and encouraging outlook for 2025 has lifted shares by 3% on Friday, taking shares of Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) up by 4%, and Royal Caribbean (RCL) up by 2%.