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Carnival (CCL) is the largest global cruise company. Its brands include Carnival Cruise Line, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn. On Sept. 29, Carnival beat the Zacks consensus, its 12th consecutive earnings surprise. Earnings per share were $1.43, beating the estimate by $0.11.

Revenue was a record of $8.2 billion, up over $250 million from the year-ago quarter on lower capacity. This was the 10th consecutive quarter that Carnival has posted record revenue. Gross margin yields were 6.4% higher than last year.
 

Everyone has been watching the leisure and hospitality companies for clues about the strength of the consumer. But Carnival isn’t seeing any slowdown. Since May, Carnival’s booking trends have continued to strengthen. It has higher booking volumes than last year and is far outpacing capacity growth.

In fact, it has already booked nearly half of 2026, which is in line with last year’s record levels. At the same time, Carnival has been able to get historically high prices for North America and Europe segments.

Carnival shares recently hit a new five-year high, but they have retreated from that in the last month. Over the last 30 days, shares are down 10.2%. Carnival is cheaper on the pullback.

It’s now trading with a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 13.7. A P/E ratio under 15 usually indicates a stock is a value. Carnival also has a PEG ratio of 0.6. A PEG ratio under 1.0 indicates a company has both value and growth. For investors looking for a company with record revenue, but whose shares are still trading at a discount, Carnival should be on your short list.

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