Carnival Corp. (CCL) to report Q4 earnings Friday: What’s in the offing?

Leisure travel company Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) will be publishing its fourth-quarter results on Friday before the opening bell. Margins are likely to come under pressure from voyage disruptions caused by unfavorable weather conditions and delays in ship delivery.

Analysts, in general, expect earnings to fall 27% from last year to $0.51 per share. Higher fuel costs and unfavorable exchange rates could have a negative impact on the bottom-line. It is estimated that excluding fuel costs, net cruise costs increased year-over-year in the November-quarter.

Mixed Outlook

The company continues to witness stable revenue performance, aided by the strength of the Onboard segment amid strong customer spending. Wall Street predicts a 3% increase in revenues to $4.59 billion. Meanwhile, the top-line growth will likely be restricted by weakness in the Passenger Ticket segment. A key concern is a slowdown in passenger bookings due to safety issues in the Arabian Gulf, which is also affecting ticket prices.

Global Cues

Being an international cruise line, nearly half of Carnival’s customers are outside the U.S. That makes the business vulnerable to fluctuations in the global economy and geopolitical issues like the US-China trade war. Going ahead, the management will have to take steps to reduce the impact of the new emission norms being imposed by the International Maritime Organization.

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While announcing the third-quarter results a few months ago, the company lowered its full-year guidance despite revenues growing in double digits to $6.5 billion. There was a corresponding increase in margins, which drove up earnings by 11% to $2.63 per share.

Green Gesture

Earlier this week, a statement from the company said it has joined the Getting-to-Zero Coalition, an association of companies operating in the shipping, energy and finance sectors, for expediting decarbonization of the global maritime sector. Carnival is the first cruise company to join the alliance, which works towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry by about 50% in the next 30 years.

Related: Carnival Q3 2019 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

It has been a dismal show by Carnival’s shares so far in 2019, after starting the year on a positive note. However, the stock shifted to recovery mode a few weeks ago. It lost about 7% since the beginning of the year.

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