Royal Caribbean jumps as Q1 profit beats expectations and investors look past fuel-cost headwinds

Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) is up 8.9% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The stock appears to be rising after the company posted a stronger-than-expected first quarter, highlighted by an adjusted EPS beat and solid demand indicators. Investors also seemed encouraged by management’s full-year adjusted EPS outlook update and commentary that bookings recovered after a brief geopolitics-related slowdown, even with higher fuel-cost assumptions.

Details:

The company reported Q1 adjusted EPS of $3.60 (GAAP EPS $3.48) and said results exceeded its own guidance due to better revenue, lower costs, and stronger joint-venture performance.

Management updated full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $17.10–$17.50 and reiterated expectations for roughly 10% year-over-year revenue growth.

The outlook incorporated higher fuel expense assumptions for 2026 versus prior guidance; the company also disclosed it was 59% hedged for the remainder of 2026 at below-market rates.

Royal Caribbean said demand remained strong, with April bookings running ahead of the prior year after temporary softness in certain itineraries tied to geopolitical developments.

Sources:

Royal Caribbean Group (press release via PR Newswire), Investing.com, TradingView News

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$RCL Insider Trading Activity

$RCL insiders have traded $RCL stock on the open market 122 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 0 have been purchases and 122 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $RCL stock by insiders over the last 6 months:

ARNE ALEXANDER WILHELMSEN has made 0 purchases and 85 sales selling 1,731,597 shares for an estimated $549,611,076.
JASON T LIBERTY (President & CEO) has made 0 purchases and 11 sales selling 90,910 shares for an estimated $29,709,953.
MICHAEL W BAYLEY (Pres&CEO, Royal Caribbean Intl) has made 0 purchases and 11 sales selling 80,000 shares for an estimated $26,145,463.
NAFTALI HOLTZ (Chief Financial Officer) has made 0 purchases and 11 sales selling 51,131 shares for an estimated $16,739,937.
LAURA H BETHGE (President, Celebrity Cruises) sold 7,854 shares for an estimated $2,562,053
HENRY L PUJOL (Chief Accounting Officer) sold 4,442 shares for an estimated $1,456,932
MARITZA GOMEZ MONTIEL has made 0 purchases and 2 sales selling 2,485 shares for an estimated $763,073.

To track insider transactions, check out Quiver Quantitative's insider trading dashboard. You can access data on insider stock transactions through the Quiver Quantitative API.

$RCL Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 561 institutional investors add shares of $RCL stock to their portfolio, and 565 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

CAPITAL INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS added 3,215,382 shares (+9.8%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $896,834,347
NORGES BANK removed 1,625,801 shares (-49.8%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $453,468,414
BLACKROCK, INC. added 1,537,419 shares (+7.3%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $428,816,907
FMR LLC removed 1,509,390 shares (-55.1%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $420,999,058
UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC added 1,183,557 shares (+6361.8%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $330,117,718
CAPITAL RESEARCH GLOBAL INVESTORS added 920,042 shares (+4.8%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $256,618,114
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP removed 847,850 shares (-39.1%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $236,482,322

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API.

$RCL Congressional Stock Trading

Members of Congress have traded $RCL stock 1 times in the past 6 months. Of those trades, 1 have been purchases and 0 have been sales.

Here’s a breakdown of recent trading of $RCL stock by members of Congress over the last 6 months:

REPRESENTATIVE DAN NEWHOUSE purchased up to $15,000 on 12/31.

To track congressional stock trading, check out Quiver Quantitative's congressional trading dashboard. You can access data on congressional stock trades through the Quiver Quantitative API.

$RCL Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $RCL in the last several months. We have seen 5 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Wells Fargo issued a "Overweight" rating on 02/02/2026
Barclays issued a "Overweight" rating on 01/30/2026
Stifel issued a "Buy" rating on 01/30/2026
Goldman Sachs issued a "Buy" rating on 12/09/2025
UBS issued a "Buy" rating on 11/12/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $RCL, check out Quiver Quantitative's $RCL forecast page.

$RCL Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $RCL recently. We have seen 13 analysts offer price targets for $RCL in the last 6 months, with a median target of $349.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Trey Bowers from Wells Fargo set a target price of $349.0 on 04/15/2026
Robin Farley from UBS set a target price of $321.0 on 04/14/2026
Brandt Montour from Barclays set a target price of $351.0 on 04/10/2026
Jamie Rollo from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $310.0 on 04/09/2026
Matthew Boss from JP Morgan set a target price of $341.0 on 04/08/2026
Patrick Scholes from Truist Securities set a target price of $327.0 on 03/24/2026
Ivan Feinseth from Tigress Financial set a target price of $425.0 on 02/06/2026

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.