Laura Laviada

Demand in the cruise line industry during 2H 08 was adversely affected by recessionary pressure in North America and Europe. As a result, RCL experienced a slowdown in bookings as consumers deferred travelling decisions in light of the prevailing economic slowdown. RCL’s revenue yields are set to decline in light of the withdrawal of fuel supplements in 1Q 09 given the recent drop in crude oil prices, and consequently fuel prices. We also expect a downward revision in ticket prices, due to slowing demand; and declining Onboard revenues, given reduced spending by the lower number of passengers; to drive down overall revenues over our ... Read Full Story

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. We will review our estimates and rating in our next full update report in the coming weeks. We continue to expect ... Read Full Story

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 full update report in the coming weeks. As we continue to expect a significant positive currency impact on the Norwegian stock over our investment horizon, we maintain our current BUY rating for ... Read Full Story

Cruise operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. reports earnings for its first quarter on Thursday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period. OVERVIEW: Royal Caribbean's first quarter encompassed the cruise industry's all-important "wave season," the period from January through March when cruise bookings usually surge. Despite the drop in consumer spending, Royal Caribbean said booking patterns seemed to stabilize in January although the company was forced to offer deep discounts to fill its ships. At the time, the company said its revenue outlook for 2009 was weak, due to the lower ticket prices and onboard spending. Like ... Read Full Story

Seven Summits Research issues PriceWatch Alerts for V, AMZN, WYNN, RCL, and SOHU. Seven Summits Strategic Investments' PriceWatch Alerts are available at http://www.iotogo.com/s/072109C (Note: You may have to copy this link into your browser then press the [ENTER] key.) Today's PriceWatch Alerts cover the following stocks: Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ:WYNN), Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL), and Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ:SOHU). In today's unsure markets these brief PriceWatch Alerts contain concise detailed strategies for each covered stock and include position protection tactics designed to potentially defend investors from unexpected market shifts. While other market reports only provide stock news ... Read Full Story