Carnival (NYSE:CCL) has released its fourth-quarter financial results, reporting a loss of $0.07 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.12. This marks a significant improvement from the loss of $0.85 per share reported a year ago when adjusted for non-recurring items.
The quarterly report reflects an impressive earnings surprise of 41.67%. In the previous quarter, Carnival outperformed expectations, delivering earnings of $0.86 per share compared to the anticipated $0.73, resulting in a positive surprise of 17.81%. Over the last four quarters, the company has exceeded consensus EPS estimates consistently.
Carnival, part of the Zacks Leisure and Recreation Services industry, reported revenues of $5.4 billion for the quarter ended November 2023, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.50%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $3.84 billion. The company has beaten consensus revenue estimates in each of the last four quarters.
The stock has performed remarkably well, gaining about 124.2% since the beginning of the year, outpacing the S&P 500’s gain of 22.4%.
What’s Next for Carnival?
While Carnival has shown strong performance in the market, the focus now shifts to what lies ahead for the stock. Investors are keen on understanding the company’s future trajectory, and one crucial factor to consider is its earnings outlook.
The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is -$0.14 on $5.45 billion in revenues. For the current fiscal year, the estimate is $0.93 on $24.36 billion in revenues. The earnings outlook will play a crucial role in determining the stock’s immediate price movement, and investors will closely follow management’s commentary during the earnings call.
The Zacks Rank, a reliable tool harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions, currently designates Carnival as a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). This suggests that the stock is expected to perform in line with the market soon. Investors should monitor any changes in estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year to gain insights into the company’s prospects.
In terms of industry performance, Leisure and Recreation Services, to which Carnival belongs, is currently ranked in the top 36% of the 250-plus Zacks industries. Historical data indicates that industries in the top 50% of Zacks rankings tend to outperform the bottom 50% by more than a 2-to-1 factor.
Investors should also keep an eye on the broader Consumer Discretionary sector. Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Inc. (CSSE), a company in this sector, is yet to report results for the quarter ended September 2023. The consensus EPS estimate for Chicken Soup for Soul Entertainment, Inc. is a quarterly loss of $1.21 per share, reflecting a year-over-year change of -7.1%. Revenues are expected to be $100.99 million, up 39.5% from the year-ago quarter.
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