Mizuho Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Carnival (NYSE:CCL) Stock Price

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) had its price target dropped by Mizuho from $39.00 to $38.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 51.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on CCL. Melius Research set a $36.00 target price on shares of Carnival in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Carnival from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Carnival from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Argus set a $35.00 price objective on Carnival in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carnival has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.32.

Carnival Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of CCL stock opened at $25.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $34.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 2.31. Carnival has a 1 year low of $21.45 and a 1 year high of $34.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.32.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 29th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.39 billion. Carnival had a return on equity of 26.11% and a net margin of 11.24%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. Carnival has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.200-0.200 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.240-2.240 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Carnival will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Carnival

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCL. Nuveen LLC raised its stake in shares of Carnival by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 26,729,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,320,000 after acquiring an additional 364,529 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Carnival by 2,954.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 19,851,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,625,000 after buying an additional 19,201,000 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Carnival by 5.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,904,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,372,000 after buying an additional 834,885 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Carnival by 67.3% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 6,770,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,428,000 after buying an additional 2,723,171 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Carnival by 2,432.8% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,689,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $204,311,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425,822 shares during the period. 67.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Carnival News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Carnival this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly earnings beat expectations: Carnival reported adjusted EPS of $1.43 versus consensus estimates near $1.35–$1.36, while revenue reached a record $8.44 billion, above expectations of approximately $8.3–$8.4 billion. Net income was $1.92 billion, supported by record revenue and net yields. Carnival Corporation Q3 2026 results
• Positive Sentiment: Demand remains resilient: Carnival said 2027 bookings, occupancy and pricing are at record levels, with customer deposits reaching $7.6 billion. Booking volumes are meaningfully ahead of last year and are outpacing capacity growth, reinforcing expectations for continued pricing power. Carnival Q3 earnings call highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Full-year outlook was raised: Carnival now expects approximately $2.24 in adjusted 2026 EPS, slightly above the roughly $2.22 analyst consensus, and increased its adjusted net income outlook by more than $150 million. The company also reduced debt below $24 billion and has repurchased approximately $1.2 billion of stock year to date. Carnival guidance and bookings
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment remains constructive but valuation targets were mixed: BNP Paribas Exane lowered its price target from $33 to $31 while maintaining an “outperform” rating. The broader analyst target average was reported near $34.45, implying additional potential upside if demand and earnings momentum persist.
• Negative Sentiment: Cost and near-term guidance risks remain: Fuel costs rose 36% year over year and reduced gross-margin yields, although Carnival cut fuel consumption by about 4%. Fourth-quarter EPS guidance of $0.20 is below the consensus estimate of $0.25, and the company’s high leverage remains a risk if interest rates or operating costs rise.

About Carnival

Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE: CCL) is a global leisure travel company that operates cruise lines and related vacation businesses. Its brands offer ocean cruises, onboard entertainment, dining, accommodation, excursions and other travel experiences to passengers across a range of price points and destinations.

The company’s portfolio includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, P&O Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia, AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises.