Royal Caribbean stock rallies after quarterly profit and the outlook topped forecast, amid record bookings in both rate and volume

Shares of Royal Caribbean Group
RCL,
+0.90%
cruised 0.8% higher n premarket trading Thursday after the cruise operator reported fourth-quarter profit that beat expectations but revenue that came up a bit light, while providing an upbeat outlook for 2024 amid record booked positions in both rates and volume. The company swung to net income of $278 million, or $1.06 a share, from a loss of $500 million, or $1.96 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $1.25 beat the FactSet consensus of $1.14. Revenue jumped 27.9% to $3.33 billion, just below the FactSet consensus of $3.36 billion, as passenger ticket revenue climbed 34.3% to $2.29 billion and onboard and other revenue grew 15.9% to $1.05 billion. Looking ahead, the company expects adjusted first-quarter EPS of $1.10 to $1.20, above the FactSet consensus of 93 cents, and 2024 adjusted EPS of $9.50 to $9.70 compared with expectations of $9.21. The stock has soared 49.5% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500
SPX,
-1.61%
has gained 14.3%.