Zacks Research Issues Negative Estimate for RCL Earnings

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) – Research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q3 2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a note issued to investors on Thursday, May 21st. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $6.29 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $6.33. The consensus estimate for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ current full-year earnings is $17.28 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Q4 2026 earnings at $3.37 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $17.13 EPS and Q1 2027 earnings at $3.68 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on RCL. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $309.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $377.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $347.21.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

RCL stock opened at $260.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $270.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.87. The stock has a market cap of $69.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.77. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a one year low of $232.10 and a one year high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 24.36% and a return on equity of 45.25%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.830-3.930 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.100-17.500 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RCL. Compass Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.0% during the first quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,696,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. J. Derek Lewis & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the first quarter worth about $223,000. Cadia Private Client LLC purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 1st quarter valued at about $275,000. Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 1st quarter valued at about $152,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,120,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,370,000 after purchasing an additional 76,372 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total value of $113,355,118.14. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,681,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,311,186,488.54. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 1,135,858 shares of company stock valued at $358,605,301 over the last quarter. 6.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.61%.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.