Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. shot up 5.0% toward a 7-month high in premarket trade Wednesday, after the cruise operator reported first-quarter earnings, revenue and net yields that beat expectations. Net income rose to $249.7 million, or $1.19 a share, from $218.7 million, or $1.02 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted EPS came to $1.31, above the FactSet consensus of $1.11. Total revenue rose 20.3% to $2.44 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $2.38 billion, as 19.9% growth in passenger ticket revenue to $1.71 billion topped expectations of $1.67 billion and the 21.2% rise in onboard and other revenue to $729.8 million beat expectations of $704.2 million. Net yields as reported were up 7.2%, beating the FactSet consensus of 6.3%. For 2019, the company cut its adjusted EPS outlook to $9.65 to $9.85 from $9.75 to $10.00 to reflect the negative impacts from the Grand Bahama Shipyard incident, in which a crane collapse caused "extensive" damage to the "Oasis of the Seas" ship. The company lifted its 2019 guidance for as-reported net yields to 6.5% to 8.0% from 6.0% to 8.0%. The stock has rallied 23.7% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 17.5%.
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