What's Going On With Carnival Stock Following Royal Caribbean Earnings?

Carnival Corp (NYSE:CCL) shares initially gained 3% to $19.44 Tuesday morning, before reversing lower, amid Royal Caribbean's strong first-quarter earnings, potentially signaling robust consumer demand and pricing power in the cruise industry.

RCL stock traded higher by some 5% to $228.00 pre-market before dipping into the red during early Tuesday trading.

What To Know: Royal Caribbean reported a 26% jump in operating income to $945 million and an occupancy rate of 108.8%, reflecting increased passenger demand.

Passenger ticket revenue climbed nearly 8% year-over-year, and gross margin yields rose 13.9%, showing the cruise sector's ability to drive profitability despite macroeconomic pressures.

For Carnival, which operates under brands like Princess, Holland America, and Cunard, Royal Caribbean's success is a bullish signal. Both companies compete in similar markets and benefit from industry-wide tailwinds such as strong booking trends and pricing resilience.

Importantly, Royal Caribbean raised its full-year adjusted EPS forecast significantly—from $14.35–$14.65 to $14.55–$16.55—on the back of yield growth and cost control, suggesting favorable conditions for peers like Carnival.

Read Also: Rare Bullish Signal Just Flashed On Wall Street: Will It Power S&P 500 To 6,000?

How To Buy CCL Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Carnival – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.

In the case of Carnival, which is trading at $18.49 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 5.41 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, CCL has a 52-week high of $28.72 and a 52-week low of $13.78.