Carnival Corp shares were up after the cruise operator reported a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss for fiscal year 2023, helped by resilient demand for leisure travel and on-board spending.
For the period ended February 2023, the Miami-based cruise giant reported a loss of $690 million, or $0.55 per share, on revenue of $4.4 billion. The consensus estimate for the 1Q was a loss of $0.62 per share on revenue of $4.3 billion. Revenue grew 173.1% on a year-over-year basis.
Carnival bested its own December guidance range of $750 to $850 million net loss for the first quarter of 2023.
Carnival shares were up 1.5% to $9.37.
"In the 1Q, we outperformed our guidance on all measures. We achieved record 1Q net per diems, exceeding the high end of our guidance, driven by improving ticket prices and sustained growth in onboard revenue, while delivering an additional seven points of occupancy on higher capacity compared to the prior quarter,” Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein said in a statement.
"We are enjoying a phenomenal wave season, achieving our highest ever quarterly booking volumes and breaking records in both North America and Europe. Our strong performance has extended into March and we expect this favorable trend to continue based on the success of our efforts to drive demand," he added.
Carnival said that cash from operations turned positive in the first quarter of 2023. The company expects continued growth in cash from operations to be the driver for paying down debt over time.
Carnival closed its 1Q with $8.1 billion of liquidity.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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