Carnival Shares Rise on Good News

Shares in Carnival Cruise Line rose on Friday after the company said that advance bookings for 2021 “remain within historical ranges at prices that are down in the low- to mid-single-digits range,” according to The Street.

Carnival’s stock closed at $16.16 on Friday – still more than 70 percent off its high for this year but up $1.58, or 10.84 percent from the previous day. That’s also up from its rock bottom low of $7.97 per share on April 2, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Carnival also said it was selling 13 of its ships.

“We have been transitioning the fleet into a prolonged pause and right-sizing our shore-side operations,” Carnival Chief Executive Arnold Donald said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. “We have already reduced operating costs by over $7 billion on an annualized basis and reduced capital expenditures also by more than $5 billion over the next 18 months. We have secured over $10 billion of additional liquidity to sustain another full year with additional flexibility remaining.”

The company also noted in its SEC filing that its AIDA line – one of nine lines under the Carnival umbrella – will resume operations from ports in Germany beginning next month with three of its ships.

AIDA will be the first of the Carnival lines to return to the sea.