UBS is expecting Carnival Corp's shares to exceed previous forecasts for the year ahead.
The Swiss investment bank has raised its 12-month price target on the Arnold Donald-led company's stock to $51 from $47 on favourable foreign-exchange and fuel-cost outlooks.
Carnival's shares, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange as CCL, gained 0.5% Wednesday to close at $48.76.
UBS has lifted its 2020 earnings-per-share estimate to $4.65 from $4.26, slightly ahead of Carnival's full-year guidance of $4.30 to $4.60 and a $4.47 analyst consensus.
The US dollar is expected to trade at $1.16 to the Euro by the end of 2020, up from $1.11 currently, according to Bloomberg, but the Greenback is still more valuable than most currencies.
Carnival expects to boost full-year EPS earnings by $0.17 to $0.24 based on the US dollar's power and IMO 2020-driven changes in fuel mix and fuel prices, the company said in its fourth-quarter earnings report.
The company plans to turn to marine gasoil for 45% of its fuel needs in 2020 and high-sulphur fuel oil for the remaining 55%.
Carnival has also attained more advanced bookings for 2020 compared to those in 2019 at this time last year, UBS analyst Robin Farley wrote in a client's note.
