Carnival Plc ADS ADS (CUK)

FairStock Score: 65/100 — STEADY

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

As a Buffett-and-Graham-style investor, I start with the business. Carnival is a scaled cruise operator with 160,000 employees and brands spanning North America, Europe, Australia, and beyond. Scale gives some cost and route advantages, but this is a capital-intensive, cyclical travel business, not a toll bridge. The latest filed quarter, fiscal Q1 2026, showed revenue of $6.2 billion and net income of $258.0 million, a 4.18% net margin. The provided growth figures for the latest reported period show revenue growth of 6.11% and profit growth of 430.77%, which looks like a rebound from depressed levels, not proof of durable compounding. Financial health is the weak spot. Debt-to-equity is 2.04, the FairStock-calculated Altman Z-Score is 0.67, and the Piotroski F-Score is 4/9—signals of leverage and limited margin for error. On the positive side, trailing-twelve-month free cash flow is $3.0 billion, and the FairStock-calculated FCF yield is 7.9% against the $37.8 billion market cap. FairStock-calculated ROE is 27.85%, though ROCE of 5.52% says the total capital base earns only modestly. At the 2026-05-07 close of $27.47, FairStock's price-based P/E is 12.10 and EV/EBITDA is 10.90—reasonable if the cycle stays firm. But P/B is 2.92, and the Graham Number is $21.91, leaving a negative 25.38% margin of safety. The 0.55% dividend yield and beta of 2.33 suggest little income and a volatile ride. FairStock's score is 65/100, and no Lynch category is assigned because only 0 years of filed annual results are available, with 3 needed. I would call this a fair-to-full price for a leveraged cyclical, not a Graham bargain.

In plain English: Carnival runs cruise ships and related vacation businesses around the world. The company is profitable and produces cash, but it carries a lot of debt, and profits can swing with travel demand. At the recent price, the shares look roughly fair rather than a clear bargain compared with the company's earnings and net assets.

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Data as of 2026-05-07 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer