Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. RCL continues to demonstrate strong operating momentum, supported by solid demand for cruise vacations and disciplined execution across its business. The company generated adjusted EBITDA of more than $7 billion in 2025, marking a 17.6% year-over-year increase. The growth was backed by strong demand for its vacation experiences and operational performance across its portfolio of brands.
Royal Caribbean expects profitability to continue improving in 2026. The company projects adjusted EBITDA to come in slightly below $8 billion, representing about 13% growth year over year. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $17.70-$18.10, reflecting approximately 14% growth compared with the 2025 levels. Capacity is projected to increase about 6.7% as new ships enter service and recently delivered vessels contribute for the full year.
Demand trends remain supportive of this outlook. Management stated that roughly two-thirds of the company’s 2026 inventory has already been booked at higher rates, with booked load factors remaining within historical ranges. Booking activity has been strong across all commercial channels, including direct-to-consumer platforms.
Royal Caribbean emphasizes expanding its vacation offerings through new ships, exclusive destinations and technology investments designed to enhance guest experiences. The company is optimistic and anticipates the initiatives to support its strategy of growing capacity, maintaining pricing strength and expanding margins over time.
How RCL Stacks Up to Competitors
Two major competitors of Royal Caribbean Group are Carnival Corporation & plc CCL and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH, both of which are also pursuing profitability growth and operational improvements.
Carnival reported strong financial momentum in 2025, delivering record results across revenues, yields, operating income and EBITDA. The company generated more than $3 billion in net income and expects approximately $7.6 billion in EBITDA in 2026, supported by continued yield improvement and disciplined cost management. Carnival also highlighted strong booking trends, with about two-thirds of 2026 sailings already booked at historically high prices.
Norwegian Cruise is focusing on improving operational execution while maintaining cost discipline. In 2025, the company generated $2.73 billion in adjusted EBITDA, up 11% year over year, while adjusted EPS rose 19% to $2.11. However, management noted that certain deployment and commercial execution challenges have created near-term pressure on yields. Norwegian Cruise expects 2026 net yields to remain roughly flat.
Overall, Royal Caribbean’s projected EBITDA growth toward the $8 billion level places it ahead of peers in profitability expansion, suggesting the company may continue to benefit from strong demand and pricing power as the cruise industry grows.
RCL’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of Royal Caribbean have gained 37.5% in the past year compared with the industry’s 13% growth.
RCL Stock’s One-Year Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, RCL trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, below the industry’s average of 15.64.
RCL’s P/E Ratio (Forward 12-Month) vs. Industry
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RCL’s 2026 earnings implies a year-over-year uptick of 15.7%. The EPS estimates for 2026 have increased in the past 60 days.
EPS Trend of RCL Stock
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
RCL’s Zacks Rank
RCL stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
