Carnival Corporation reports record revenues, reinstates dividend

Shares in Carnival Corporation & plc [NYSE: CCL] were up this morning as the cruise giant reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025 and reinstated its dividend.

“2025 was a truly phenomenal year. We set new records across our business, achieved investment grade leverage metrics and, as announced just today, reinstated our dividend. These milestones reflect the collective strength of our cruise line portfolio and confidence in our long-term future,” said Carnival Corporation & plc’s CEO Josh Weinstein.

Highlights

• Full year net income of $2.8 billion with record adjusted net income1 of $3.1 billion, up over 60%.
• Full year record revenues of $26.6 billion on record net yields, outperforming guidance for the fourth time in 2025 due to strong close-in demand.
• All-time high full year operating income of $4.5 billion, up 25% compared to the prior year.
• Record full year adjusted EBITDA1 of $7.2 billion, up over $1 billion compared to the prior year.
• Adjusted return on invested capital exceeds 13%.
• Net debt to adjusted EBITDA1 ratio of 3.4x and recognized by Fitch as investment grade.
• Cumulative advanced booked position for 2026 remains in line with 2025 record levels at historical high prices
• Full year 2026 adjusted net income expected to be $3.5 billion, surpassing record 2025 levels.

“Our global team’s relentless focus on delivering amazing guest experiences while executing with discipline enabled us to outperform guidance for the fourth time this year,” said Weinstein.”We had record full year net yields (in constant currency) and adjusted net income increased more than 60 percent driven by strong demand that outpaced unit cost increases. The momentum is carrying into 2026, which is shaping up to surpass even these remarkable results with another year of double-digit earnings growth and return on invested capital expected to exceed 13.5%, closing in on our 20-year high.”

“Looking forward, we are well positioned to top 2025’s record yields. We remain at our highest booked occupancy for the upcoming year at about two-thirds booked at higher prices (in constant currency). In fact, we’re at historical high prices (in constant currency) for both North America and Europe,” Weinstein noted.

“Over the last three months, we achieved record booking volumes for 2026 and 2027 sailings. In addition, strong booking volumes continued from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, even outpacing prior year’s robust levels, which is a favorable indicator for wave season,” Weinstein added.

Early completion of refinancing plan enables dividend reinstatement

“We have reached a meaningful turning point, surpassing the investment grade leverage metric threshold with a net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 3.4x for 2025, representing a nearly one turn improvement from 2024 and successfully completing our $19 billion refinancing plan in less than a year,” commented Carnival Corporation & plc’s CFO David Bernstein. “These efforts strengthened our balance sheet by simplifying our capital structure, reducing interest expense and debt, optimizing our future debt maturities and enhancing our financial flexibility. In total, we have reduced our debt by over $10 billion since our peak less than three years ago. These efforts and our strong continued operating performance, resulted in multiple credit rating upgrades throughout the year, culminating in reaching investment grade with Fitch and being one notch away with a positive outlook from S&P.”

Based on the company’s ability to generate sustainable cash flow, disciplined capital allocation strategy and strong financial position, the Boards of Directors today approved the reinstatement of the company’s quarterly dividend] and declared an initial $0.15 per share dividend with a record date of February 13, 2026 and a payment date of February 27, 2026.

“This decision highlights confidence in our future performance and continued commitment to delivering value to shareholders,” Bernstein added.

• All the numbers HERE

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