Anthem of the Seas cruise ship

Royal Caribbean drops as weak Q3 outlook overshadows strong Q2 results

The cruise-line operator continues to benefit from strong bookings even as competition heats up.

7/29/25 8:09AM

Shares of Royal Caribbean fell 6% in premarket trading Tuesday after the cruise giant’s strong Q2 results and improved full-year guidance weren’t enough to wow investors following the stock’s 53% gain so far this year, because its near-term outlook isn’t nearly as impressive.

Adjusted earnings per share came in at $4.38, well above the $4.09 expected by analysts polled by FactSet and blowing away the high end of the company’s guidance for $4.00 to $4.10. Revenue came in at $4.53 billion, falling just an inch shy of Wall Street’s estimates of $4.55 billion.

Royal Caribbean also raised its full-year 2025 adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $15.41 to $15.55, lifting the low end from its prior forecast of $14.55, thanks to these strong Q2 results. The midpoint of this range is above the $15.45 figure penciled in by analysts.

But there’s a catch: while upgrading its outlook thanks to strong operational performance in the first half of the year, management also signaled that the start of the second half wouldn’t deliver the same kind of knockout results. For the third quarter, management said adjusted EPS would range between $5.55 to $5.65, while the consensus is looking for $5.84. Royal Caribbean said the fact that cost growth was under control so much in Q2, flattering those results, was “driven entirely by shifting of timing of operating expenses into the second half of the year.”

Royal Caribbean and rivals like Carnival have seen blowout quarters this year, fueled by huge booking demand, even as ticket prices climb. An estimated 19 million Americans are expected to take a cruise this year, marking the third straight year of record passenger volume.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing. Back in April, Royal Caribbean was hit with a pair of price target cuts as some analysts flagged market uncertainty and questioned how long the demand boom could last.

Max Knoblauch1h

Chinese EV maker Nio sinks as a surge of orders for its new SUV create a 6-month backlog

Shares of Nio are falling Monday on the bittersweet news that its latest SUV (the ES8, priced to compete with Tesla’s Model Y) is too popular.

According to Chinese media reports, up to 50,000 ES8 orders may have been placed in the vehicle’s first 36 hours, surpassing Nio’s 40,000-vehicle production cap for this year.

Customers now ordering the ES8 won’t receive their vehicle for 24 to 26 weeks, or six months.

Nio CEO William Li said that the ES8’s production capacity will reach 15,000 units by December.

Nio Says ES8 Orders Placed Today Face 6-Month Wait

Customers now ordering the ES8 won’t receive their vehicle for 24 to 26 weeks, or six months.

Nio CEO William Li said that the ES8’s production capacity will reach 15,000 units by December.

Jon Keegan, Nate Becker

Nvidia jumps on plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI as part of data center expansion

Shares of Nvidia vaulted on the news, as CEO Jensen Huang says the new project would involve 4 million to 5 million GPUs.

J. Edward Moreno

Moderna rises after RFK Jr. vaccine panel’s less-draconian-than-expected Covid recommendation

While ACIP’s vote means less people may be able to access Moderna’s vaccine than before, it’s less severe than the outright ban some were expecting.

Matt Phillips3h

US toys with making the world’s worst investment

Argentinian government bonds are up big today on reports that the US is considering some sort of a bailout for the chronically messy Latin American economy currently led by Trump-allied right-wing populist Javier Millei.

The country’s foreign minister knocked down previous reports that Argentina was negotiating a $30 billion loan with the US.

But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just came out saying that “all options” are being considered to stabilize the country’s currency, which plunged as Millei’s attempt to radically remake the economy with deep spending and tax cuts has shown signs of sputtering amid a series of government corruption scandals. Bessent even went so far as to say Argentina is a “systemically important” US ally, using a term of art that’s often bandied about when bailouts are in the offing.

For the record, lending Argentina US taxpayer money seems a bad idea.

The country has defaulted on foreign loans nine times, giving it one of the world’s worst credit histories. In fact, it’s defaulted three times since 2000, including in 2019, after the last attempt to “reform” the country lured in foreign lenders once again.

Bessent Says ‘All Options’ on Table to Steady Milei’s Argentina

For the record, lending Argentina US taxpayer money seems a bad idea.

Max Knoblauch4h

BYD dips following report that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire dumped its entire stake after 17 years

Berkshire Hathaway has fully exited its stake in the world’s largest EV maker, BYD, sending shares of the Chinese auto giant down on Monday.

A CNBC report over the weekend highlighted the change, which was disclosed back in March in a quarterly filing by subsidiary Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Berkshire confirmed that it sold its full position.

Buffett’s fund first invested in BYD in 2008 at the urging of then Vice Chair Charlie Munger, who died in 2023. Berkshire acquired nearly 10% of the company for $232 million at the time.

Berkshire’s position peaked at $9 billion in June 2022, before it began selling its shares — including a 76% cut last July. Analysis by Business Insider found that the fund made approximately $7 billion from its investment, a return on investment of more than 30x.