VIK vs RCL vs CCL Stock Comparison

Viking Holdings, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Carnival Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
VIK Viking Holdings Ltd
$86.45 +9.0% 1M +47.3% 1Y
Market cap
$39.68B
P/E
29.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.97B
Div. yield
–
Cruise Lines Consumer Discretionary
5 wins
RCL Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd
$298.59 +23.0% 1M +1.9% 1Y
Market cap
$83.07B
P/E
18.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$19.13B
Div. yield
–
Cruise Lines Consumer Discretionary
4 wins
CCL Carnival Corp Ltd.
$28.08 +26.7% 1M +0.8% 1Y
Market cap
$39.31B
P/E
12.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$27.59B
Div. yield
–
Cruise Lines Consumer Discretionary
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Viking Holdings leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Viking Holdings 5, Royal Caribbean Cruises 4, Carnival 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionVIKRCLCCLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $39.68B $83.07B $39.31B RCL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 29.5x 18.3x 12.5x CCL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 27.4x 15.9x 13.1x CCL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +20.0% +9.7% +5.2% VIK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 19.3% 23.8% 11.4% RCL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 22.5% 15.3% 11.5% VIK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.0x 3.0x 3.1x VIK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +47.3% +1.9% +0.8% VIK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +28.8%/yr +4.9%/yr RCL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.4% 47.0% 49.1% VIK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 66/100 66/100 RCL

Percentile Scorecard

VIKRCLCCL

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

AxisVIKRCLCCL
Valuation 26 #21 of 28 41 #17 of 28 85 #5 of 28
Growth 92 #3 of 25 67 #9 of 25 75 #7 of 25
Profitability 92 #3 of 25 96 #2 of 25 71 #8 of 25
Financial Health 66 #11 of 30 55 #14 of 30 59 #13 of 30
Shareholder Returns 6 #18 of 19 72 #6 of 19 39 #12 of 19
Overall 56 66 66
  • VIK ranked among 31 companies in Travel and Lodging
  • RCL ranked among 31 companies in Travel and Lodging
  • CCL ranked among 31 companies in Travel and Lodging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodVIKRCLCCLSPY
1 month +9.0%+23.0%+26.7% +0.9%
3 months -15.8%-7.8%+0.9% +5.9%
6 months +10.1%+17.6%+9.8% +8.5%
Year to date +21.1%+7.1%-8.1% +13.3%
1 year +47.3%+1.9%+0.8% +12.4%
3 years —+260.6%+152.3% +88.1%
3 years, per year —+53.4%+36.2% +23.5%
5 years —+253.7%+26.7% +68.2%
5 years, per year —+28.8%+4.9% +11.0%
10 years —+301.0%-42.0% +263.4%
10 years, per year —+14.9%-5.3% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureVIKRCLCCLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.4%47.0%49.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.6%40.6%44.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.771.742.16 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.170.040.02 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -35.4%-67.6%-74.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.1%-14.2%-17.4% -0.9%
52-week high $108.24$348.03$33.99 $779.14
52-week low $57.08$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.

MultipleVIKRCLCCL
P/E now vs peer median 28.5xmedian 18.2x 17.5xmedian 18.2x 12.2xmedian 18.2x
P/S now vs peer median 5.6xmedian 1.5x 4.2xmedian 1.5x 1.4xmedian 1.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 20.8xmedian 14.1x 14.1xmedian 14.1x 8.1xmedian 14.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median 33.8xmedian 16.4x 52.9xmedian 16.4x 11.9xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 23.6xmedian 2.5x 6.7xmedian 2.5x 2.7xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.30 0.24median 0.30 0.21median 0.30

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 monthsVIKRCLCCL
Revenue $6.97B $19.13B $27.59B
Gross profit $3.01B $9.39B –
Operating income $1.62B $5.27B $4.41B
Net income $1.35B $4.58B $3.14B
Free cash flow $1.15B $1.51B $3.18B
EPS (diluted) $3.02 $16.98 $2.29
Cash & equivalents $3.99B $851.00M $1.22B
Total debt $13.58B $22.36B $23.91B
Shares (diluted) 446.42M 268.00M 1.37B
Enterprise value $24.80B $80.01B $32.49B

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
MetricVIKRCLCCL
P/E 28.5x 17.5x 12.2x
P/FCF 33.8x 52.9x 11.9x
P/Operating cash flow 14.8x 11.6x 5.5x
P/S 5.6x 4.2x 1.4x
P/B 23.6x 6.7x 2.7x
P/Tangible book 23.6x 6.7x 2.9x
EV/EBITDA 20.8x 14.1x 8.1x
EV/EBIT 25.3x 19.2x 13.7x
EV/Revenue 5.9x 5.3x 2.2x
EV/FCF 35.5x 67.1x 19.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.5x 14.7x 8.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.24 0.21

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVIKRCLCCL
Revenue growth (1Y) 20.0% 9.7% 5.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 13.3% 11.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 22.4% 9.9% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 19.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) 29.1% 14.6% 2.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 31.5% 116.1%
Net income growth (1Y) 64.8% 12.1% 18.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 70.4% 57.8%
EPS growth (1Y) 35.4% 14.4% 21.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 73.3% 58.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 16.6% 9.3% 21.6%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 20.6% 28.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 48.3% -25.8% 9.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -14.8% 98.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVIKRCLCCL
Gross margin 43.2% 49.1% –
EBITDA margin 28.2% 37.5% 26.9%
Operating margin 23.3% 27.6% 16.0%
Pretax margin 19.7% 24.4% 11.5%
Net margin 19.3% 23.8% 11.4%
FCF margin 16.6% 7.9% 11.5%
Operating cash flow margin 37.8% 36.0% 24.7%
Return on equity 99.1% 41.0% 23.1%
Return on assets 10.0% 10.2% 6.1%
Return on invested capital 22.5% 15.3% 11.5%
Return on capital employed 21.9% 15.8% 11.3%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.4x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 1.5x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 1.3% 0.7% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVIKRCLCCL
Debt / assets 43.1% 49.9% 46.9%
Debt / equity 3.6x 1.9x 1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.0x 3.0x 3.1x
Debt / FCF 5.2x 14.8x 7.5x
Liabilities / assets 88.0% 73.4% 72.1%
Equity / assets 12.0% 26.6% 27.9%
Interest coverage 8.2x 4.9x 3.8x
Current ratio 0.8x 0.2x 0.3x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.1x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.7x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 2.30 1.41

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVIKRCLCCL
Dividend yield – 1.8% 1.6%
Net buyback yield -0.1% 1.9% 1.5%
Shareholder yield -0.1% 3.8% 3.1%
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.

ConsensusVIKRCLCCL
Forward P/E 27.4xFY2026 15.9xFY2026 13.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.15FY2026 $18.80FY2026 $2.15FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +20.7%FY2026 +20.2%FY2026 -4.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +30.8% +10.1% +15.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $6.89BFY2026 $18.60BFY2026 $29.26BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.0%FY2026 +3.7%FY2026 +9.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +23.8% +8.3% -4.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVIKRCLCCL
Held by institutions 47.9% 88.5% 69.1%
Institutions holding 607 1,226 1,030
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.6% +6.3% +9.5%
Institutions buying 404 607 993
Institutions selling 148 447 13
Buyers to sellers 2.73 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.

VIKRCLCCL
VIK 1.00 0.67 0.71
RCL 0.67 1.00 0.80
CCL 0.71 0.80 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VIK, RCL and CCL?

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Viking Holdings (VIK) $39.68B, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) $83.07B, Carnival (CCL) $39.31B.

Which stock is cheaper, VIK, RCL and CCL?

Carnival (CCL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Viking Holdings (VIK) 29.5x, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 18.3x, Carnival (CCL) 12.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Carnival (CCL) is cheapest (Viking Holdings (VIK) 27.4x, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 15.9x, Carnival (CCL) 13.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Viking Holdings (VIK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Viking Holdings (VIK) +20.0%, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) +9.7%, Carnival (CCL) +5.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) has the highest net margin (Viking Holdings (VIK) 19.3%, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 23.8%, Carnival (CCL) 11.4%). On return on invested capital, Viking Holdings (VIK) leads (Viking Holdings (VIK) 22.5%, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 15.3%, Carnival (CCL) 11.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Viking Holdings (VIK) returned the most: Viking Holdings (VIK) +47.3%, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) +1.9%, Carnival (CCL) +0.8%. Over five years, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) compounded fastest (Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) +28.8%/yr, Carnival (CCL) +4.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Viking Holdings (VIK) has been the steadiest (Viking Holdings (VIK) 40.4%, Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) 47.0%, Carnival (CCL) 49.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, VIK, 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, Viking Holdings (VIK) leads on 5. 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.