NCLH vs CCL Stock Comparison

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Carnival Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CCL Carnival Corp Ltd.
$26.11 +19.8% 1M -11.3% 1Y
Market cap
$36.56B
P/E
11.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$27.59B
Div. yield
–
Cruise Lines Consumer Discretionary
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Carnival leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Carnival 8, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNCLHCCLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.01B $36.56B CCL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 9.3x 11.7x NCLH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 9.5x 12.2x NCLH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.2% +5.2% NCLH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.4% 11.4% CCL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.6% 11.5% CCL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.4x 3.1x CCL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -35.7% -11.3% CCL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -10.0%/yr +3.2%/yr CCL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 54.8% 49.2% CCL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 67/100 CCL

Percentile Scorecard

NCLHCCL

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisNCLHCCL
Valuation 71 #9 of 29 86 #5 of 29
Growth 56 #12 of 26 76 #7 of 26
Profitability 56 #12 of 26 76 #7 of 26
Financial Health 7 #29 of 31 57 #14 of 31
Shareholder Returns – 42 #12 of 20
Overall 48 67
  • NCLH ranked among 32 companies in Travel and Lodging
  • CCL ranked among 32 companies in Travel and Lodging

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodNCLHCCLSPY
1 month +6.5%+19.8% -1.0%
3 months -22.2%-0.9% +2.9%
6 months -18.5%-3.9% +6.4%
Year to date -32.4%-14.5% +11.4%
1 year -35.7%-11.3% +13.1%
3 years +8.2%+128.0% +79.4%
3 years, per year +2.7%+31.6% +21.5%
5 years -40.8%+17.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year -10.0%+3.2% +10.9%
10 years -60.3%-44.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year -8.8%-5.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureNCLHCCLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 54.8%49.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 53.1%44.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.012.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.65-0.23 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.1%-74.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -39.7%-23.2% -2.5%
52-week high $25.02$33.99 $779.14
52-week low $14.12$21.80 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleNCLHCCL
P/E now vs peer median 9.2xmedian 18.8x 11.3xmedian 18.8x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.5x 1.3xmedian 1.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 7.9xmedian 15.0x 7.8xmedian 15.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -5.8xmedian 16.0x 11.1xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 2.7xmedian 2.5x 2.5xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.22median 0.37 0.19median 0.37

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsNCLHCCL
Revenue $10.15B $27.59B
Gross profit $4.31B –
Operating income $1.53B $4.41B
Net income $760.77M $3.14B
Free cash flow -$1.19B $3.18B
EPS (diluted) $1.62 $2.29
Cash & equivalents $218.10M $1.22B
Total debt $15.03B $23.91B
Shares (diluted) 463.93M 1.37B
Enterprise value $6.23B $29.75B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricNCLHCCL
P/E 9.2x 11.3x
P/FCF -5.8x 11.1x
P/Operating cash flow 3.3x 5.1x
P/S 0.7x 1.3x
P/B 2.7x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 3.3x 2.7x
EV/EBITDA 7.9x 7.8x
EV/EBIT 14.2x 13.1x
EV/Revenue 2.1x 2.1x
EV/FCF -18.3x 18.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.3x 8.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.22 0.19

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNCLHCCL
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.2% 5.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.3% 11.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 9.0% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 28.3% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 0.1% 2.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 118.1% 116.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 5.8% 18.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 42.5% 57.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -3.3% 21.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 42.2% 58.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 7.3% 21.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.4% 28.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -135.0% 9.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -27.2% 98.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNCLHCCL
Gross margin 42.5% –
EBITDA margin 27.1% 26.9%
Operating margin 15.1% 16.0%
Pretax margin 7.6% 11.5%
Net margin 7.4% 11.4%
FCF margin -11.7% 11.5%
Operating cash flow margin 20.8% 24.7%
Return on equity 30.4% 23.1%
Return on assets 3.2% 6.1%
Return on invested capital 8.6% 11.5%
Return on capital employed 8.7% 11.3%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.8x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.9% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNCLHCCL
Debt / assets 62.6% 46.9%
Debt / equity 5.8x 1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.4x 3.1x
Debt / FCF -12.7x 7.5x
Liabilities / assets 89.3% 72.1%
Equity / assets 10.7% 27.9%
Interest coverage – 3.8x
Current ratio 0.2x 0.3x
Quick ratio 0.1x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 0.27 1.37

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNCLHCCL
Dividend yield – 1.7%
Net buyback yield – 1.6%
Shareholder yield – 3.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusNCLHCCL
Forward P/E 9.5xFY2026 12.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $1.59FY2026 $2.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -24.6%FY2026 -4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after 0.0% +16.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $10.34BFY2026 $29.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +5.1%FY2026 +9.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.9% -4.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNCLHCCL
Held by institutions 100.0% 69.1%
Institutions holding 639 1,030
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.9% +9.5%
Institutions buying 293 993
Institutions selling 205 13
Buyers to sellers 1.43 76.38

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

NCLHCCL
NCLH 1.00 0.82
CCL 0.82 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NCLH and CCL?

Carnival (CCL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) $7.01B, Carnival (CCL) $36.56B.

Which stock is cheaper, NCLH and CCL?

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) 9.3x, Carnival (CCL) 11.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) is cheapest (Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) 9.5x, Carnival (CCL) 12.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) +6.2%, Carnival (CCL) +5.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Carnival (CCL) has the highest net margin (Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) 7.4%, Carnival (CCL) 11.4%). On return on invested capital, Carnival (CCL) leads (Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) 8.6%, Carnival (CCL) 11.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Carnival (CCL) returned the most: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) -35.7%, Carnival (CCL) -11.3%. Over five years, Carnival (CCL) compounded fastest (Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) -10.0%/yr, Carnival (CCL) +3.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Carnival (CCL) has been the steadiest (Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) 54.8%, Carnival (CCL) 49.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do NCLH and CCL move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.82, a strong positive relationship. Holding both adds little diversification.

Which is the better stock, NCLH and CCL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Carnival (CCL) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.