Carnival Corp. - Ordinary Shares (Paired Stock)

Strong Q2 performance; record results across key metrics - Carnival delivered another record quarter with record revenues, yields, EBITDA, net income, and customer deposits; deposits reached an all-time high of ~$9B. - Net income: $569M, >20% YoY, despite ~30% higher fuel prices. - Outperformed March guidance by ~$100M (about $0.07/share), driven mainly by cost discipline, with smaller contributions from yields/onboard and depreciation/fuel-consumption improvements. - Yields were >2% YoY up (up 2.2% vs prior year), and Carnival said this marked the 12th consecutive quarter of record yields—supported by resilient close-in demand and robust onboard spending.

Cost and efficiency momentum is real; guidance raised modestly - Cruise costs without fuel per ALBD were essentially flat YoY, and beat March guidance by ~250 bps. - Fuel efficiency improved >5% YoY (building on >6% efficiency gain from last year). - CFO framed cost improvements as both timing and structural, with identified initiatives expected to benefit the remainder of 2026 and beyond. - Full-year 2026 EPS guidance: $2.22, +$0.01 vs prior guidance (mainly due to EPS accretion from share repurchases).

Key challenge: geopolitics disrupted Europe (especially Med) and affects demand/trajectory timing - The company emphasized it is resilient but not immune; near-term disruption can affect timing. - The Middle East conflict drove a ~100 bps yield moderation vs prior expectations, concentrated in European deployments (Med region most affected) and worsened by elevated airfares / reduced international flight capacity for North American guests. - Carnival said the moderation is transitory: book position remains ahead of last year with ~93% of business on the books and less remaining inventory than last year. - They also stated Q3/Q4 demand shape is not “lower than Q3” once you adjust for loyalty accounting quirks (questioning implied Q4 may look softer, but CFO said it’s closer to ~2% when normalized).