Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) dropped 8.4% in premarket trading on Tuesday, despite the cruise operator surpassing second-quarter earnings expectations. The company reported a significant turnaround, with income for the quarter ending June 30 amounting to $86.1 million, or 20 cents per share. This is compared to a loss of $509.3 million, or $1.22 per share, in the same period last year.
Adjusted earnings per share came in at 30 cents, beating the FactSet consensus of 26 cents. Revenue also experienced robust growth, increasing by 85.8% to $2.21 billion, surpassing the FactSet consensus of $2.17 billion. Passenger ticket revenue showed a substantial rise of 86.2% to $1.48 billion, while onboard and other revenue saw an increase of 84.9% to $727.0 million.
Despite the positive results, occupancy for Norwegian Cruise Line reached 105%, slightly lower than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. However, the company remains optimistic about future prospects, stating that it continues to experience strong and resilient consumer demand. The cumulative booked position is currently surpassing 2019 levels at higher pricing.
Looking ahead, Norwegian Cruise Line expects adjusted earnings per share of approximately 70 cents for the third quarter, falling below the current FactSet estimate of 80 cents. However, the company has raised its 2023 earnings per share outlook to about 80 cents from about 75 cents.
Year-to-date, the stock has soared by an impressive 80.3%, outperforming the S&P 500, which has gained 19.5%.
