Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd’s (RCL) 1Q 09 total revenues and earnings beat our and the street’s expectations. This prompted a significant 20.6% increase in the NYSE common stock in a single trading session at the close of trading on 23 April 2009, achieving our BUY target. RCL has not materially changed its guidance for FY 2009 and as our fundamental target price has been met, we downgrade the stock from a BUY to HOLD, as we believe it has exhausted its potential upside....

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s (RCL) NYSE common stock soared 21.3% in a single trading session on 24 February 2009 as investors took advantage of the stock’s cheap valuation. However, in view of slowing discretionary consumer spending and a tough macro economic environment, we maintain our HOLD rating for the NYSE common stock although our target price does not support a HOLD. We will reassess stock target price and rating in our next…

Company News Alert

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s (RCL) NYSE common stock has declined significantly since we downgraded it in our company news alert dated 02 January 2009, reflecting broader market concerns over the performance of cruiseliners in FY 2009. According to recent estimates from the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), passenger growth is expected to moderate from an estimated 5.1% in CY 2008 to 2.3% y-o-y in CY 2009 (source: Bloomberg)....