At a glance
Carnival Corporation is worth $40.41B, about 15 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 6.4% to $26.62B in fiscal 2025, with 10.4% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 36.6% a year. It pays no dividend. The stock returned +5.9% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +5.9% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 78.3% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 72.6% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%).
The business in plain English
Carnival Corp Ltd. is the world's largest cruise company. It sells cruise vacations through eight brands, ranging from value-priced family trips to luxury voyages on small ships. Its North America segment (a business unit it reports separately) includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn. Its Europe segment includes AIDA, the most recognized cruise brand in Germany, along with Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises, Britain's largest cruise line, and Cunard. As of November 30, 2025, the fleet had 94 ships, and Carnival Cruise Line alone held 35% of passenger capacity. More than 13.5 million guests sail with it each year.
Most revenue comes from cruise fares. In fiscal 2025, which ended November 30, 2025, passenger tickets brought in $17.4 billion, or 65% of the $26.6 billion total. The other 35% came from onboard spending and other sources. The North America segment produced 66% of revenue and the Europe segment 32%. By country, the United States accounted for about 56%, Germany about 13% and the UK about 12%.
Two small segments support the cruises. Cruise Support, at 1.2% of revenue, runs the company's port destinations and private islands. Tour and Other, at 0.9%, is Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, which operates hotels, lodges, glass-domed railcars and motorcoaches in Alaska and Canada's Yukon.
Price history
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CCL +5.9% over the year to Nov 2, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Passenger ticket | $17.42B | 65.4% |
| Onboard and other | $9.20B | 34.6% |
By business segment
| North America Segment | $17.60B | 66.1% |
| Europe Segment | $8.47B | 31.8% |
| Cruise Support | $309.0M | 1.2% |
| Tour And Other | $241.0M | 0.9% |
By geography
| United States | $14.85B | 55.8% |
| Other | $5.37B | 20.2% |
| Germany | $3.35B | 12.6% |
| UK Plan | $3.05B | 11.5% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Aug 31, 2026), revenue was $8.44B, up 3.5% from a year earlier, and net income was $1.92B (+3.7%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $26.62B (+6.4% year over year; +36.6% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 10.4% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +36.6% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 16.8% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 9.8% watch |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 22.5% good |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 5.3% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-23.34B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $5.59B | $-10.24B | $-9.92B |
| FY2021 | $1.91B | $-9.50B | $-7.72B |
| FY2022 | $12.17B | $-6.09B | $-6.61B |
| FY2023 | $21.59B | $-74.0M | $997.0M |
| FY2024 | $25.02B | $1.92B | $1.30B |
| FY2025 | $26.62B | $2.76B | $2.61B |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $40.41B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 14.9 |
| Dividend yield | 1.5% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Carnival’s market value went from $27.99B at the end of 2016 to $40.41B on Nov 2, 2026, up 44%; since the end of 2025 it is up 13%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2, 2026 | $40.41B | +13.3% |
| 2025 | $35.66B | +24.0% |
| 2024 | $28.76B | +38.6% |
| 2023 | $20.75B | +131.4% |
| 2022 | $8.97B | -54.6% |
| 2021 | $19.74B | +26.5% |
| 2020 | $15.61B | -41.7% |
| 2019 | $26.79B | +3.1% |
| 2018 | $25.97B | -26.7% |
| 2017 | $35.42B | +26.5% |
| 2016 | $27.99B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCL price data to Nov 2, 2026 | 0.0% | +5.9% | +36.9% | +5.9% | -3.4% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -0.0% |
| 2025 | +22.6% |
| 2024 | +34.4% |
| 2023 | +130.0% |
| 2022 | -59.9% |
| 2021 | -7.1% |
| 2020 | -56.9% |
| 2019 | +7.4% |
| 2018 | -23.4% |
| 2017 | +30.8% |
| 2016 | -1.8% |
| 2015 | +22.9% |
| 2014 | +15.7% |
| 2013 | +12.4% |
| 2012 | +17.6% |
| 2011 | -27.3% |
| 2010 | +47.1% |
| 2009 | +30.3% |
| 2008 | -42.2% |
| 2007 | -6.6% |
| 2006 | -6.2% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 64.7% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 68.8%, back to its old high 25.8 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 72% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 78.3%, not recovered by the end of the data |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 65.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 72.6%, back to its old high 24.9 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 5 sales ($2.2M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 28, 2026 | bettina alejandra deynes Chief Human Resources Officer | sell | $1.2M |
| Oct 28, 2026 | Helen Deeble Director | sell | $694K |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Sir Jonathon Band Director | sell | $314K |
| Mar 31, 2026 | Sir Jonathon Band Director | sell | $300.00 |
| May 11, 2026 | Stuart Subotnick Director | sell | $5.00 |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Vanguard Capital Management | 6.87% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| BlackRock, Inc. | 6.8% | Jun 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in CCL
| PEJ Invesco Leisure and Entertainment ETF | 4.48% |
| SAMM Strategas Macro Momentum ETF | 3.17% |
| RPG Invesco S&P 500® Pure Growth ETF | 1.82% |
| SMOT VanEck Morningstar SMID Moat ETF | 1.18% |
| SPHB Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF | 0.82% |
| TAX Cambria Tax Aware ETF | 0.82% |
| SPVM Invesco S&P 500 Value with Momentum ETF | 0.62% |
| VOT Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF | 0.61% |
What could go wrong
- Ship incidents can damage its brands. The 10-K notes Carnival ships have had outbreaks, accidents and other incidents before. Fires, collisions or illness can injure people and disrupt voyages, and bad publicity spreads fast online, hurting bookings and crew hiring.
- A large debt load to carry. Debt stood at $24.6 billion against $1.2 billion of cash and investments as of August 31, 2026. The 10-K warns missed debt payments or broken loan conditions, called covenants, could hurt the company.
- Pandemics and world events can halt sailings. Pandemics, war, travel bans or a recession can cut demand or halt sailings. Guest cruises were paused during the pandemic, and revenue fell to $1.9 billion in fiscal 2021, versus $26.6 billion in fiscal 2025.
- Fuel costs and supply are hard to control. Running a large fleet takes a lot of fuel. Higher fuel prices, shifts in the types of fuel ships burn and supply shortages can raise costs and force changes to planned itineraries.
- Hurricanes and severe weather disrupt trips. Hurricanes and other natural disasters can disrupt cruises, damage port destinations and private islands, and delay the flights guests take to reach their ships. The 10-K warns such weather may become more frequent or severe.
- Overcapacity and competition can squeeze prices. Industry passenger capacity rose from 701,110 at the end of 2023 to 764,310 at the end of 2025. More ships, rivals such as Royal Caribbean and MSC, and land-based resorts can pressure prices.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Major agreement ended; Acquisition or sale of assets completed; Listing notice from the exchange; Unregistered sale of shares; Change to shareholder rights; Change in control; Bylaws or fiscal year changed; Investor presentation or announcement
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released
- Major agreement signed
- Major agreement signed; Change to shareholder rights
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
Carnival's dividend is newly restored after a long gap. The company paid about $0.89 per share in fiscal 2020, then paid nothing from fiscal 2021 through 2025. Its 10-K, filed January 27, 2026, says the dividend was reinstated, and the dividend yield (yearly dividends as a share of the stock price) was 1.6% as of October 28, 2026. There is no record of increases yet, and no share buybacks were reported from fiscal 2021 through 2025. Income investors get a modest payout with little track record.
The stock has fallen hard in past downturns. It dropped 68.8% in the 2008 financial crisis and did not regain its 2007 high until January 2011. It lost 78.3% in the 2020 COVID crash and had still not returned to its February 2020 peak as of October 28, 2026. In the 2022 bear market it fell 72.6%, recovering only in November 2024. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.
Questions investors ask
How does Carnival make money?
Carnival makes most of its money selling cruises. In fiscal 2025, which ended November 30, 2025, passenger tickets brought in $17.4 billion, or 65% of its $26.6 billion in revenue. The other 35%, about $9.2 billion, came from onboard spending and other sources. Its port destinations and private islands made up 1.2% of revenue, and its Alaska tour business, with hotels, lodges and glass-domed railcars, made up 0.9%. Net income was $2.76 billion, meaning about 10 cents of profit on each dollar of sales.
What cruise lines does Carnival own?
Carnival owns eight cruise lines. Its North America segment includes Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn. Its Europe segment includes AIDA, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises and Cunard. As of November 30, 2025, Carnival Cruise Line was the largest, with 29 ships and 35% of passenger capacity, followed by Princess Cruises with 17 ships and 20%. The fleet totaled 94 ships, with seven more on order for delivery through 2033. During 2025, the company folded P&O Cruises (Australia) into Carnival Cruise Line.
Does Carnival pay a dividend?
Yes, after a long pause. Carnival paid about $0.89 per share in fiscal 2020, then paid nothing from fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025. Its 10-K, filed January 27, 2026, says the company has reinstated its dividend, and the dividend yield was 1.6% as of October 28, 2026. Because the payout is newly restored, there is no record of yearly increases. The company also reported no share buybacks from fiscal 2021 through 2025.
How much debt does Carnival have?
Carnival had $24.6 billion of total debt as of August 31, 2026, compared with $1.2 billion of cash and investments. Its 10-K says the company has been reducing debt and has passed what it calls the investment grade threshold, the level of credit quality that rating firms treat as lower risk. Still, the 10-K warns that keeping up with interest and repayments takes a lot of cash, and breaking loan terms could hurt the business.
Has Carnival stock recovered from the COVID crash?
No, not fully. The stock fell 78.3% between February 19 and March 18, 2020, and as of October 28, 2026, it still had not regained its February 2020 peak. The business has rebounded: revenue reached $26.6 billion in fiscal 2025, up from $1.9 billion in fiscal 2021, and net income was $2.76 billion. The shares gained 130% in 2023, 34% in 2024 and about 23% in 2025, but were still down 34% over the 10 years to October 28, 2026.