Q2 Hotels, Resorts and Cruise Lines Earnings: Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) Earns Top Marks

As the Q2 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the hotels, resorts and cruise lines industry, including Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) and its peers.

Hotels, resorts, and cruise line companies often sell experiences rather than tangible products, and in the last decade-plus, consumers have slowly shifted from buying "things" (wasteful) to buying "experiences" (memorable). In addition, the internet has introduced new ways of approaching leisure and lodging such as booking homes and longer-term accommodations. Traditional hotel, resorts, and cruise line companies must innovate to stay relevant in a market rife with innovation.

The 15 hotels, resorts and cruise lines stocks we track reported a mixed Q2. As a group, revenues along with next quarter’s revenue guidance were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.

The Fed cut its policy rate by 50bps (half a percent) in September 2024, the first in roughly four years. This marks the end of its most pointed inflation-busting campaign since the 1980s. While CPI (inflation) readings have been supportive lately, employment measures have bordered on worrisome. The markets will be assessing whether this rate cut's timing (and more potential ones in 2024 and 2025) is ideal for supporting the economy or a bit too late for a macro that has already cooled too much.

In light of this news, hotels, resorts and cruise lines stocks have held steady with share prices up 3.1% on average since the latest earnings results.

Best Q2: Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL)

Established in 1968, Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) is a global cruise vacation company renowned for its innovative and exciting cruise experiences.

Royal Caribbean reported revenues of $4.11 billion, up 16.7% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.6%. Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with optimistic earnings guidance for the next quarter and a decent beat of analysts’ earnings estimates.

"Our momentum continues! We met our financial targets 18 months earlier than expected, have our balance sheet in a strong position, reinstated our dividend, and ... we are just getting started," said Jason Liberty, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean Group.

Interestingly, the stock is up 11.4% since reporting and currently trades at $183.39.

Is now the time to buy Royal Caribbean? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL)

Boasting outrageous amenities like a planetarium on board its ships, Carnival (NYSE:CCL) is one of the world's largest leisure travel companies and a prominent player in the cruise industry.

Carnival reported revenues of $7.90 billion, up 15.2% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. The business had a satisfactory quarter with optimistic earnings guidance for the full year.

Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 3.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $17.97.

Is now the time to buy Carnival? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q2: Hilton Grand Vacations (NYSE:HGV)

Spun off from Hilton Worldwide in 2017, Hilton Grand Vacations (NYSE:HGV) is a global timeshare company that provides travel experiences for its customers through its timeshare resorts and club membership programs.

Hilton Grand Vacations reported revenues of $1.24 billion, up 22.6% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 7.7%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a miss of analysts’ operating margin estimates and a miss of analysts’ earnings estimates.

Hilton Grand Vacations delivered the fastest revenue growth but had the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. As expected, the stock is down 6% since the results and currently trades at $36.29.

Read our full analysis of Hilton Grand Vacations’s results here.

Wyndham (NYSE:WH)

Established in 1981, Wyndham (NYSE:WH) is a global hotel franchising company with over 9,000 hotels across nearly 95 countries on six continents.

Wyndham reported revenues of $367 million, up 1.4% year on year. This result was in line with analysts’ expectations. More broadly, it was a mixed quarter as its performance in some other areas of the business was disappointing.

The stock is up 10.6% since reporting and currently trades at $78.02.

Read our full, actionable report on Wyndham here, it’s free.

Lindblad Expeditions (NASDAQ:LIND)

Founded by explorer Sven-Olof Lindblad in 1979, Lindblad Expeditions (NASDAQ:LIND) offers cruising experiences to remote destinations in partnership with National Geographic.

Lindblad Expeditions reported revenues of $136.5 million, up 9.4% year on year. This result was in line with analysts’ expectations. Aside from that, it was a softer quarter as it logged a miss of analysts’ operating margin estimates and a miss of analysts’ earnings estimates.

The stock is up 21.7% since reporting and currently trades at $9.27.

Read our full, actionable report on Lindblad Expeditions here, it’s free.

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