Carnival Stock Ends 2025 on a High Seas Note | The Motley Fool

Better late than never, Carnival Corp. ( CUK +2.25%) ( CCL +3.12%). The country's largest cruise line stock -- by fleet capacity and revenue -- saw its shares soar 10% on Friday after posting better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results earlier in the day . At least six major Wall Street analyst firms have boosted their price targets on the stock following the well-received financial update. Carnival and smaller rivals Royal Caribbean ( RCL +2.08%) and Norwegian Cruise Line ( NCLH +4.32%) had disappointed the market last time out. Carnival's year-over-year revenue rose a modest 3% for its fiscal third quarter . It landed ahead of Wall Street profit targets, but this was the first time it hasn't posted a bottom-line beat in the double if not triple digits in more than two years. Image source: Getty Images. Cruel summer Royal Caribbean and Norwegian didn't fare much better when they reported a month later. They both saw their revenue climb by just 5% for the third quarter of the calendar year. For Royal Caribbean, it was also its weakest earnings beat in more than two years. The industry's soft showing was problematic because this is a seasonal business. The third quarter covers the summer sailing season, which accounts for the largest quarterly revenue and the lion's share of the profitability for the three leading cruise line operators. The cruise lines needed to bounce back even during the seasonally sleepy fourth quarter, and Carnival is kicking things off with a strong start. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian -- operating on calendar quarters -- won't announce fresh financials for at least another month. NYSE: CCL Key Data Points Come on in, the water's fine Carnival stock investors were treated to a robust performance. Revenue rose 7% to $6.3 billion. This is a far cry from its heady gains following the pandemic, which came out of the industry's prolonged shutdown, but it's more than double the 3% year-over-year top-line move it posted in the fiscal third quarter. Carnival achieved the sequential acceleration despite flat capacity growth over the past year. The bottom line is the better story. Good things happen when a business is growing, particularly in a scalable industry with a cost structure that relies largely on fixed expenses. With net yields rising, even a slight improvement on the top line can lead to a significant boost in profitability. Carnival's adjusted earnings soared 140% for the fiscal fourth quarter, rising 60% for the entire fiscal year. On a per-share basis, the cruising bellwether returned to double-digit beats on the bottom line. It credits the beat on strong last-minute bookings and effective cost management. Period EPS Estimate Actual EPS Surprise Fiscal Q3 2023 $0.75 $0.86 15% Fiscal Q4 2023 ($0.13) ($0.07) 46% Fiscal Q1 2024 ($0.18) ($0.14) 22% Fiscal Q2 2024 ($0.02) $0.11 650% Fiscal Q3 2024 $1.15 $1.27 10% Fiscal Q4 2024 $0.07 $0.14 94% Fiscal Q1 2025 $0.02 $0.13 485% Fiscal Q2 2025 $0.35 $0.24 46% Fiscal Q3 2025 $1.32 $1.43 9% Fiscal Q4...

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