The world’s largest cruise line operator, Carnival Corporation, has announced record revenue and earnings for the year ended 30 November 2024.
In its freshly released earnings report, Carnival said full-year adjusted net income of US$1.9 billion beat September guidance by more than $130 million and compared with a $1 million loss in the previous financial year.
Record annual results were achieved for adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which accelerated more than 40% to $6.1 billion, and operating income, which surged more than 80% to a whopping $3.6 billion.
Revenues hit an all-time high of $25 billion, more than 15% above the previous year.
Carnival CEO Josh Weinstein said its record revenue was driven by strong demand that increased throughout the year, allowing the company to outperform initial guidance by $700 million and deliver almost $2 billion more to the bottom line.
"This has been an incredibly strong finish to a record year. The progress was broad-based as we drove strong pricing in 2024 as compared to 2023 across our major cruise lines and trades," Weinstein said in a statement.
He said the momentum was set to continue as the company was actively working on an enhanced destination strategy to encourage guests to take a cruise with Carnival, operator of P&O Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.
"2025 is shaping up to be another banner year, with yield growth expected to far outpace historical growth rates and again exceed unit cost growth, thanks to the efforts of our amazing team members.”
Smooth sailing ahead
Carnival forecast adjusted net income of about $2.3 billion for the 2025 full year, more than 20% higher than 2024, and adjusted EBITDA of about $6.6 billion, up 8%.
“Even with less inventory available, booking volumes taken during the fourth quarter of 2024 for 2025 were higher than the prior year for a strong 2024, despite the traditionally slower period around the election,” Carnival said.
“Booking volumes taken during the fourth quarter for 2026 continued to break records, reflecting sustained demand even for further out sailings.”
Carnival Corp (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) shares closed at $26.80, up $1.62 (6.4%), capitalising the company at $34.4 billion.