Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) ·
Norwegian Cruise Line Shares Pass 200-Day Moving Average Following Earnings Beat
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings shares climbed above their 200-day moving average after third-quarter results beat expectations and management raised full-year profit projections.
Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. crossed above their 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock, which has a 200-day simple moving average of $18.60, reached an intraday peak of $19.09 before concluding at $18.8110 with trading volume totaling 15,784,305 shares. The move comes as the stock gained 1.6% on the session, maintaining recent upward momentum.
The technical milestone follows third-quarter operating performance that surpassed Wall Street projections. On Thursday, October 29th, the cruise operator posted revenue of $2.95 billion, outpacing consensus predictions of $2.88 billion. Quarterly earnings per share reached $1.12, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.93. Barchart noted that passenger ticket sales fell roughly 5.1% compared to the prior year to reach $1.95 billion, whereas onboard and other spending jumped 12.7% to $1 billion.
Following the stronger results, company leadership lifted full-year expectations. Norwegian adjusted its target for full-year adjusted EBITDA upward from $2.50 billion to roughly $2.55 billion, while boosting projected adjusted EPS from $1.50 to $1.70. Simply Wall St reported that new guidance points toward high occupancy, supported by a planned 15% drop in salary and benefits and over US$500m in targeted cost cuts identified since 2024.
Wall Street opinions on the company remain divided. MarketBeat reported an overall average rating of Hold with an average target price of $20.18. Research notes include Susquehanna lowering its objective from $17.00 to $16.00 with a neutral stance on Tuesday, October 20th, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded the equity from neutral to underweight on Friday, October 23rd, decreasing its target from $13.00 to $11.00. Conversely, UBS Group lifted its target from $17.00 to $20.00 on Tuesday, August 18th.
Valuation interpretations also show stark contrast. While analyst consensus on Simply Wall St estimated a fair value of $18.63, its discounted cash flow model suggested an estimate of $2.74, indicating potential risk if long-term cash generation fails to meet expectations. In addition, the firm carries a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43 and a quick ratio of 0.19, keeping leverage considerations central to its recovery.