Carnival (CCL) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

The latest trading session saw Carnival (CCL) ending at $26.09, denoting a +1.4% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.24% for the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.16%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.08%.

The the stock of cruise operator has risen by 0.51% in the past month, lagging the Consumer Discretionary sector's gain of 8.73% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.37%.

The upcoming earnings release of Carnival will be of great interest to investors. In that report, analysts expect Carnival to post earnings of $0.02 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 114.29%. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $5.75 billion, indicating a 6.34% upward movement from the same quarter last year.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $1.77 per share and a revenue of $26.01 billion, indicating changes of +24.65% and +3.97%, respectively, from the former year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Carnival. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.85% higher. Currently, Carnival is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

With respect to valuation, Carnival is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 14.52. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.9.

Meanwhile, CCL's PEG ratio is currently 0.77. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Leisure and Recreation Services industry was having an average PEG ratio of 0.78.

The Leisure and Recreation Services industry is part of the Consumer Discretionary sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 44, placing it within the top 18% of over 250 industries.