While Carnival Corp. is not immune from macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility, CEO Josh Weinstein said business remains strong at the world's largest cruise company.
Carnival Corp. achieved record-breaking first-quarter revenue and yields, strong close-in demand and continued strength in onboard revenue, he said.
"Frankly, the onboard spend that we've seen in the first couple of weeks of March hasn't slowed down, so we do feel good about the strength of our consumer," he said during the company's Q1 call on Friday.
Carnival reported first-quarter revenue of $5.8 billion, more than $400 million above last year's Q1. He characterized the strength of Q1 as "pretty fantastic" and driven by high close-in demand and "tremendous" onboard spending. Onboard spending grew 10% year over year and exceeded Q4 onboard spending.
Meanwhile, the company's European brands continue to outperform year over year on both price and occupancy, said CFO David Bernstein.
For the quarter, the company sailed at 103% occupancy, a slight uptick from 102% a year earlier.
Weinstein described this year's Wave season (sales in the first three months of the year, more or less) as a success that led the company to set a record for bookings for further-out years. The company began the year with 2025 inventory booked at a historic 80% with record pricing, he said.
Weinstein said the company is well positioned and has a nimble team to navigate any macroeconomic and geopolitical changes that come its way. But Weinstein said he hasn't seen any indicators within the company's performance or in consumer behavior that trouble is coming. Asked if he has seen anything on a brand-by-brand basis that was concerning, Weinstein said no.
Patrick Scholes, a travel-focused analyst with Truist Securities, said it appears that the current booking pace is perhaps not as strong as it was in December, "though pricing continues to be in line" with Carnival's comments.
Carnival Corp. nearly doubled its operating income from a year earlier, to $543 million. It reported a $78 million net loss, however, due to higher costs incurred from modifying debt. The company said it refinanced $5.5 billion of debt, delivering $145 million in annualized interest savings while reducing its debt balance by $500 million.
According to its Q1 report, Carnival Corp. carries approximately $27 billion in debt.