By Sam Boughedda
Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) missed earnings expectations when it released its fourth-quarter report before the open Tuesday, sending its shares more than 6% below the previous session's close in premarket trading.
In premarket trading, NCLH was trading around the $15.44 mark after closing at $16.50 per share on Monday, but has now recovered some of those losses.
The cruise company reported a loss per share of $1.04, $0.19 worse than the analyst estimate of a loss of $0.85 per share. Revenue for the quarter was in-line with consensus expectations, coming in at $1.5 billion.
NCLH's sequential occupancy improved to approximately 87% in the quarter, while total revenue per passenger cruise day rose around 23% compared to the same period in 2019.
The company said that looking ahead, it has entered the year with a record booked position at higher pricing, while "WAVE season demand has been very strong," with NCLH's brands experiencing record launches for WAVE offers and highest-ever booking months in November 2022 and January 2023.
NCLH sees occupancy averaging approximately 100% for the first quarter and is "on track to reach historical levels for the second quarter."
2023 adjusted EBITDA is seen from $1.8B to $1.95B.
Reacting to the report, Stifel analysts, who have a Buy rating and $21 price target on the stock, said NCLH's initial 2023 guide "will probably disappoint," but it "should be a nice beat and raise story moving forward."
"Not really sure what NCLH could have reported/guided today that wouldn't pressure shares. They are in a tough spot having to report behind Royal Caribbean (RCL/Buy). With shares up significantly (+35% YTD, S&P +4%) so far on the year, our guess is there will be some profit taking today for a number of reasons," wrote the analysts. "We continue to focus more on their booking commentary, which continues to be healthy. The company turned 2023 with 62% of the capacity already booked for the year at higher prices. Recent bookings continue to be strong, and management noted their WAVE season has been running at record levels. Yield guidance for 2023 is better than what we were expecting."