90.04 -1.57 (-1.71%)
Pre-Market: 5:24AM EST
For two days running, cruise stock investors enjoyed smooth sailing as shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH), and Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) grew on the back of positive analyst commentary from Australian banker Macquarie Group -- and positive COVID-19 vaccine news as well. On Thursday, however, the cruise industry got swamped by the sea of red ink washing over the S&P 500.
Cruise ship stocks rose on Wednesday after the White House said the U.S. would have enough coronavirus vaccines available to inoculate every adult in the country two months earlier than anticipated. As of 1:05 p.m. EST, shares of Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL), Carnival (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK), and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH) were up 4%, 6%, and 8%, respectively. The White House's announcement came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson for its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine.
Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK) -- outperform. Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) -- you guessed it. Macquarie's timing is curious, coming just one day after both Norwegian and Royal Caribbean both basically admitted they are starved for cash.