William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for RCL Earnings

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) – Equities researchers at William Blair raised their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, October 20th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $2.81 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.80. William Blair currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ current full-year earnings is $14.90 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ FY2026 earnings at $17.24 EPS.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and set a $385.00 price target (up previously from $275.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $337.00 to $333.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 19th. TD Cowen began coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $405.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $332.14.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

RCL stock opened at $317.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $329.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $290.29. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 12-month low of $164.01 and a 12-month high of $366.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The company has a market cap of $86.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 2.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.04 by $0.34. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 47.15% and a net margin of 20.97%.The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.410-15.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 5.550-5.650 EPS.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 25th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 29.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 5,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.47, for a total transaction of $1,715,550.29. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,826 shares in the company, valued at $2,578,432.22. This represents a 39.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total value of $3,399,412.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,407 shares in the company, valued at $5,414,966.28. The trade was a 38.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,507 shares of company stock worth $10,091,282 over the last quarter. 6.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Revisor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,525,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 87.6% during the 1st quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. Roberts Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 1st quarter worth approximately $572,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,674,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,890,943,000 after acquiring an additional 602,447 shares during the period. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 8,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.