RCL vs CCL Stock Comparison

Royal Caribbean Cruises and Carnival Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
RCL Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd
$276.50 +20.0% 1M -12.7% 1Y
Market cap
$75.33B
P/E
17.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.68B
Div. yield
–
Cruise Lines Consumer Discretionary
6 wins
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
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Royal Caribbean Cruises leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Royal Caribbean Cruises 6, Carnival 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionRCLCCLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $75.33B $36.56B RCL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 17.1x 11.7x CCL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.7x 12.2x CCL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.7% +5.2% RCL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 23.5% 11.4% RCL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 15.6% 11.5% RCL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 3.1x CCL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -12.7% -11.3% CCL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +26.7%/yr +3.2%/yr RCL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.5% 49.2% RCL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 67/100 CCL

Percentile Scorecard

RCLCCL

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

AxisRCLCCL
Valuation 50 #15 of 29 86 #5 of 29
Growth 64 #10 of 26 76 #7 of 26
Profitability 92 #3 of 26 76 #7 of 26
Financial Health 50 #16 of 31 57 #14 of 31
Shareholder Returns 74 #6 of 20 42 #12 of 20
Overall 66 67
  • RCL 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

PeriodRCLCCLSPY
1 month +20.0%+19.8% -1.0%
3 months -5.8%-0.9% +2.9%
6 months +4.0%-3.9% +6.4%
Year to date -0.9%-14.5% +11.4%
1 year -12.7%-11.3% +13.1%
3 years +235.2%+128.0% +79.4%
3 years, per year +49.7%+31.6% +21.5%
5 years +226.7%+17.1% +67.7%
5 years, per year +26.7%+3.2% +10.9%
10 years +298.6%-44.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year +14.8%-5.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureRCLCCLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.5%49.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.1%44.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.702.11 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.27-0.23 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -67.6%-74.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.6%-23.2% -2.5%
52-week high $348.03$33.99 $779.14
52-week low $230.35$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.

MultipleRCLCCL
P/E now vs peer median 16.8xmedian 18.8x 11.3xmedian 18.8x
P/S now vs peer median 4.0xmedian 1.5x 1.3xmedian 1.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.7xmedian 15.0x 7.8xmedian 15.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -177.8xmedian 16.0x 11.1xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 7.1xmedian 2.5x 2.5xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.05median 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 monthsRCLCCL
Revenue $18.68B $27.59B
Gross profit $9.17B –
Operating income $5.10B $4.41B
Net income $4.43B $3.14B
Free cash flow -$416.00M $3.18B
EPS (diluted) $16.41 $2.29
Cash & equivalents $875.00M $1.22B
Total debt $85.57B $23.91B
Shares (diluted) 268.00M 1.37B
Enterprise value $72.69B $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
MetricRCLCCL
P/E 16.8x 11.3x
P/FCF -177.8x 11.1x
P/Operating cash flow 10.9x 5.1x
P/S 4.0x 1.3x
P/B 7.1x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 7.1x 2.7x
EV/EBITDA 13.7x 7.8x
EV/EBIT 18.8x 13.1x
EV/Revenue 5.1x 2.1x
EV/FCF -230.6x 18.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.1x 8.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.05 0.19

Growth

14 metrics
MetricRCLCCL
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.7% 5.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 15.9% 11.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 9.4% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 26.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 12.6% 2.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 55.6% 116.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 22.2% 18.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 342.6% 57.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 25.3% 21.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 338.3% 58.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.3% 21.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 28.0% 28.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -111.6% 9.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -30.7% 98.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricRCLCCL
Gross margin 49.1% –
EBITDA margin 37.4% 26.9%
Operating margin 27.3% 16.0%
Pretax margin 22.8% 11.5%
Net margin 23.5% 11.4%
FCF margin -2.2% 11.5%
Operating cash flow margin 36.3% 24.7%
Return on equity 43.2% 23.1%
Return on assets 10.2% 6.1%
Return on invested capital 15.6% 11.5%
Return on capital employed 16.1% 11.3%
Asset turnover 0.4x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricRCLCCL
Debt / assets 51.2% 46.9%
Debt / equity 2.2x 1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.1x 3.1x
Debt / FCF -54.9x 7.5x
Liabilities / assets 76.6% 72.1%
Equity / assets 23.4% 27.9%
Interest coverage 5.0x 3.8x
Current ratio 0.2x 0.3x
Quick ratio 0.1x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 2.07 1.37

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricRCLCCL
Dividend yield 2.0% 1.7%
Net buyback yield 2.6% 1.6%
Shareholder yield 4.6% 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.

ConsensusRCLCCL
Forward P/E 14.7xFY2026 12.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $18.79FY2026 $2.14FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +20.1%FY2026 -4.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +10.2% +16.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.60BFY2026 $29.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +3.7%FY2026 +9.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.3% -4.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersRCLCCL
Held by institutions 88.5% 69.1%
Institutions holding 1,224 1,030
Change in shares held, QoQ +6.3% +9.5%
Institutions buying 606 993
Institutions selling 446 13
Buyers to sellers 1.36 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.

RCLCCL
RCL 1.00 0.80
CCL 0.80 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, RCL and CCL?

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) $75.33B, Carnival (CCL) $36.56B.

Which stock is cheaper, RCL and CCL?

Carnival (CCL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 17.1x, Carnival (CCL) 11.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Carnival (CCL) is cheapest (Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 14.7x, 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?

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) +8.7%, Carnival (CCL) +5.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) has the highest net margin (Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 23.5%, Carnival (CCL) 11.4%). On return on invested capital, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) leads (Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 15.6%, Carnival (CCL) 11.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Carnival (CCL) returned the most: Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) -12.7%, Carnival (CCL) -11.3%. Over five years, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) compounded fastest (Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) +26.7%/yr, Carnival (CCL) +3.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) has been the steadiest (Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 47.5%, Carnival (CCL) 49.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do RCL and CCL move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.80, a strong positive relationship. Holding both adds little diversification.

Which is the better stock, RCL 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, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) leads on 6. 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.