Royal Caribbean reported today earnings of $490.2 million in its third quarter.
On a per-share basis, Royal Caribbean had net income of $2.19. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and restructuring costs, came to $2.20 per share.
The company's third quarter results beat Wall Street expectations for income. It did, however, post revenue fo $2.39 billion for the period, which missed analysts forecasts of $2.4 billion.
Its fourth quarter forecast was reduced a bit, with fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 35 to 40 cents, below analyst projections of 48 cents.
For its 2015 outlook, ROyal Caribbean is experiencing strong early booking trends for 2015. Booked load factors and APDs are higher than same time last year and the booking window has extended. Europe sailings are off to a particularly good start, with strong booking trends from North America and from Europe. Caribbean pricing pressure continues through the first quarter, but the company expects that to improve thereafter.
Royal Caribbean is optimistic that 2015 will be the sixth consecutive year for yield growth. The company has sufficient visibility into 2015 to say that it is comfortable with the Street consensus of $4.55 per share. That would represent more than a 30% increase over this year's record profitability.
