For Royal Caribbean more luxury cruises and use of big data
Compared to its competitors, the airline is more upmarket. However, it is less diversified in relation to routes and passenger nationalities
6' min read
6' min read
The protagonists on the stock market over the past 12 months? For the most part, for better or worse, the usual technology stocks and - unfortunately - defence and military stocks.
The Stock Exchange
On closer inspection, however, there is also another segment that has performed well: cruises. In particular, Royal Caribbean Cruises has maintained a remarkable speed. The US group in the last year has risen -according to Seeking Alpha- by 78.8%. The figure is significant because, over the same period of time, the Nasdaq rose by only 23.6%. One might say: extending the monitored period changes the situation. The reality is not like that: the dynamics remain the same. Looking at the last two years, Royal Caribbean has increased in value by over 250% while the index of hi-tech stocks has to make do with an increase of 69%. What's more: from 2021 to the present (five years), the 'travel-by-ship' company has grown on the list by 394.6% compared to the Nasdaq's 102% increase. Of course, individual hi-tech companies, such as the chip star Nvidia, beat Royal Caribbean on the stock exchange - and by a lot. However, the validity of the underlying argument remains: the group has done well in the market.
The economic trend
.Yeah, good. But what were the reasons for this trend? One market mover was the improvement in the company's balance sheet. The company - like the whole industry - suffered from the collapse following the Covid pandemic. The halt to cruises sank the financial numbers. According to the Bloomberg terminal, adjusted revenues in 2020 and 2021 fell to USD 2.2 billion and USD 1.5 billion respectively. At the same time, the bottom line of the income statement was marked by losses of $4 billion and $4.9 billion. In 2022, however, there was the beginning of the comeback. Turnover - in the wake of the cruise recovery - rose to 8.8 billion while adjusted profitability remained in the red (-1.9 billion). The situation turned completely around in the following financial year (2023). In that year, Royal Caribbean posted an adjusted profit of USD 1.8 billion. Then, in 2024, revenue rose to 16.48 billion and adjusted net profit to 3.24 billion.
First semester 2025
The trend, on closer inspection, continued in 2025. In the first half of the financial year, revenues amounted to USD 8.54 billion (7.8 billion twelve months earlier) and net profit rose to USD 1.9 billion compared to USD 1.2 billion in the first half of 2024. With regard to turnover, a boost came from ticket sales, which accounted for almost two-thirds of the turnover (69.6% of the total). The accounting item grew by 9.4 %, from 5.4 billion in 2024 to 5.9 billion (2025).
The jump is the result of two factors. On the one hand, there is the increase of 274 million linked to the so-called yield. That is, the average yield per passenger and per cruise day, which depends on both the price level and the cabin occupancy rate. On the other hand, there is significant growth (+4.4%) in fleet capacity (more passengers carried), thanks to the entry of the ships "Utopia of the Seas" and "Silver Ray". The remaining 30.4% of turnover, on the other hand, was related to on-board activities (plus other income). The latter amounted to EUR 2.6 billion, an increase of 7.7% compared to the same period last year. Here too, the dynamic was caused by both higher capacity (+106 million) and better yield (+79 million). A mix resulting from more passengers and higher prices.
