US-listed cruise stocks surged on Tuesday, adding more than $2bn in market capitalisation during the day, according to a TradeWinds analysis of share data.
The rally was led by Carnival Corp, whose New York-listed shares jumped 8.7% to close the trading session at $20.54 a day after the company revealed in an earnings report that it expects to be profitable in the second half of the fiscal year that started on 1 December.
The results painted a positive picture for the cruise sector, where Carnival is the largest company, even as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus impacted close-in bookings.
Paul Golding, an analyst who covers cruise and leisure stocks at Macquarie Capital, said stocks in the broader leisure sector were moving upward on Tuesday.
But he said investors may be reacting to Carnival's outlook for a second day as they digest the positive booking and pricing language.
He pointed to accelerating booking volume after the news cycle for the Delta variant, with 4% pricing improvements compared with 2019.
"And while Omicron is generating some near-term volatility (as Delta did), the booked position overall remains resilient to these fluctuations, with back-half [of fiscal year 2022] at or near historical highs and at this higher pricing level," he said in a note to clients.
Carnival's shares reached a level not seen since stocks fell off an Omicron-fuelled cliff on the day after last month's Thanksgiving holiday.
The jump on Tuesday marked the second day of gains after it closed at $18.90 a day earlier, a 3.4% jump.
The Miami company had posted worse than expected earnings for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year but said pricing and demand were strong.
"We are clearly on our way back to full cruise operations," said chief executive Arnold Donald.
Royal Caribbean Group, the world's second-largest cruise ship owner, saw its shares gain 5.4% on the New York Stock Exchange, where they closed the day $76.57.
Rounding out the Big 3, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings shares jumped 7% to hit $22.19.
The surge in cruise ship stocks came as stocks broadly regained lost ground on Tuesday after suffering a slump over Omicron jitters a day earlier.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.5% in early afternoon trading on Tuesday, to reach 35,460.
The Dow Jones US Marine Transportation Index, which tracks a basket of US shipping shares, gained 2.5% to approach 192.
