Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Q2 2026 earnings at $3.87 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.33 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.29 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.37 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.40 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $17.20 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $17.13 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $3.68 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $3.70 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $5.59 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $5.46 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $4.21 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $18.96 EPS, Q1 2028 earnings at $5.14 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $21.87 EPS.

RCL has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $309.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $410.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $351.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $377.00 to $348.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $347.21.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 2.7%

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $260.69 on Wednesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52 week low of $232.10 and a 52 week high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.92 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $270.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.87.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.25% and a net margin of 24.36%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.71 EPS. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.830-3.930 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.100-17.500 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 17.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total value of $76,475,593.04. Following the sale, the director owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,120,443,401.40. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,135,858 shares of company stock worth $358,605,301 in the last 90 days. 6.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 184.4% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel‑agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.