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Shares of cruise ship operator Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) are soaring today after the company posted better than expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter.
As we noted Monday in our earnings preview, analysts had been expecting the company to show earnings of $1.18 per share for the quarter, but Carnival easily beat out those estimates with a reported $1.33 per share.
Revenues were also higher than expected for the quarter. Analysts had forecast revenues of $4.1 billion for the quarter, with actual revenues coming in at $4.14 billion.
The company stated that the main reason for the upside surprise was better-than-expected pricing on close-in bookings in the quarter.
The future seems to be bright for the company, which raised its full-year guidance to $2.16 to $2.20 a share, up from its previous estimate of $2.10 a share.
When looking at a company like Carnival, it is important to pay attention to bookings. Since June, booking volumes for the remainder of this year and 2010 are a nice 19% higher than where they were last year.
In other news, Carnival was added to Merrill Lynch's list of "Europe 1" stocks Tuesday morning. The brokerage stated that it sees good potential for revenue growth and offers a great way to play a U.S. led consumer recovery. The brokerage has a $38 price target on the stock.
Wall Street has rewarded the stock, with shares of the company trading up a hefty 7.7% in morning trading to $34.68, up $2.68.
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