12 Best Consumer Cyclical Stocks to Buy According to Analysts

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4. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47

Average Upside Potential as of November 28: 26.23%

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) is a cruise ship company that is one of the largest in its industry. The firm’s ships enable travellers to go to 61 countries, as well as a private island.

As of November 28th, 16 out of the 27 analyst recommendations for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) were a Buy. Out of the remaining 11, six were Hold, and four were a Strong Buy and one was a Sell. The average share price target for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) is $336.08.

Recent analyst commentary for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) came on November 26th after analysts from Bernstein remarked that cruise ship prices in November appeared to have softened over October. Higher supply was the reason behind the softness, they explained, with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)’s group-wide prices dropping by 5% year-over-year. The firm had reiterated an Outperform rating and a $360 share price target for the cruise ship operator on October 31st. Another recent analyst action for the stock occurred on November 18th after Wells Fargo initiated coverage to set an Outperform rating and a $320 share price target. Calling Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) a “Top Idea,” the bank mentioned the firm’s cost controls and assumed a 2027 earnings 17x forward multiple.

One key aspect of Bernstein’s coverage was oversupply in the Caribbean region that caused the price weakness. When asked about it by Goldman Sachs’ Elizabeth Dove during the third-quarter earnings call, here’s what Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)’s CEO Jason Liberty said:

“Yes. Well, I mean, it’s — I think it’s well known. It’s been known for some time that there is an increase in supply in the Caribbean, of course, Caribbean has been working incredibly well for us. And so not surprised that there’s been a supply increase there. But it’s a very manageable increase in supply. So we’ve seen it — it’s been a little bit more — a little bit more promotional in the Caribbean activities. But for us, I think, because of our differentiated assets with our ships and our destinations and our ability to kind of keep our guests inside of our ecosystem, and we’re seeing a draw from other ecosystems coming to our ecosystem that we’re able to not only manage that demand, but we’re able to see our guests pay up to experience our delivery.”

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