Why Cruise Line Stocks Surged Between 28% and 68% in June

Shares of the major cruise stocks Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL), Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), and Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH) were up strongly in June, surging 67.7%, 28.1%, and 46.6%, respectively, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

It looks as though "revenge travel" after the height of the pandemic is still in high gear this summer. Earlier in the month, all three cruise lines rose when a major Wall Street analyst made a positive call on the sector. Then toward the end of the month, Carnival reported second-quarter earnings. While the stock initially fell on an outlook for higher costs than expected, eventually investors came around to focus on the blockbuster booking numbers and pricing power Carnival demonstrated, lifting sentiment for the group further.

On June 12, J.P. Morgan analyst Matthew Boss turned more constructive on the sector following a series of meetings with all three companies' management teams. Following the meetings, Boss upgraded Carnival to overweight, while keeping Norwegian at neutral and Royal Caribbean at overweight. However, he lifted his price targets for all three stocks.

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Source Fool.com