BofA ups Carnival to 'buy', says industry demand 'steady'

Analysts at BofA Securities upgraded their recommendation for shares of Carnival from 'neutral' to 'buy'.

They also hiked their target price from $11 per share to $20.

The decision followed meetings with all three of the publicly traded cruise companies in Miami.

Their main takeaway from those meetings was increased confidence that demand in the industry was steady at a time of consumer uncertainty.

So too, they judged that the pricing environment was rational and that booking curves were in line with company expectations.

"In our opinion, the cruise industry's long booking window and strong current demand could allow it to be less susceptible to a slowdown in the leisure consumer relative to other areas of travel," they added.

Among other factors buttressing their improved view on the company were a reduction in balance sheet risk, a greater focus on revenue generation, a better mix of ships in comparison to before the pandemic and the fact that the company's valuation was not stretched by any metric.