‘we’ve seen no sign of a slowdown’

Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) is in the red on Monday even after reporting market-beating results for its fiscal first quarter.

Carnival stock down on disappointing guidance

The stock is taking a hit primarily on the back of guidance that disappointed investors.

 For the full financial year, Carnival is now calling for 44 cents to 28 cents of per-share loss – much broader than 7 cents that analysts had forecast. On CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”, CEO Josh Weinstein said:

We hit higher pricing in Q1. We’re anticipating higher pricing over the course of 2023. Since we’re doing a four-year comparison on the cost side, we’re also comparing four years of inflation as we think about 2023 vs 2019.

The cruise line expects net per diems to beat 2019 levels by up to 2.0% this year. Carnival stock is now down 35% versus its year-to-date high.

Carnival Corp Q1 financial highlights

• Lost $693 million versus the year-ago $1.89 billion
• Per-share loss also narrowed from $1.66 to 55 cents
• Adjusted loss also printed at 55 cents per share
• Revenue went up a whopping $173.1% to $4.43 billion
• Consensus was 60 cents loss on $4.32 billion revenue

According to Carnival Corp, its revenue recovered in the recent quarter to about 95% of 2019 levels. The Chief Executive added:

We set a record for Carnival, most booking we’ve ever had and the momentum has continued into March. We’re over 70% booked for the remainder of the year. We’ve seen no sign of a slowdown.

Other notable figures in Carnival Q1 results

At $162.96, net per diems per passenger cruise day climbed nearly 5.0% versus pre-pandemic. CEO Weinstein also said:

There’s plenty of room to drive increased demand, higher revenue, and still be a value play against land-based alternatives, which, for our business serves very well even if there are recessionary times ahead.

Other notable figures in Carnival Q1 results include a 229% increase in passenger-ticket revenue, a 108% increase in onboard and other revenue, and a 181% increase in passenger cruise days. Wall Street currently has a consensus “hold” rating on Carnival stock.