Should You Buy Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Before July 30?
Execution matters more than one earnings report.
Overview
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH) reports second-quarter earnings on Thursday, July 30. If you're long on this one, you should focus less on whether the company beats estimates and more on whether management is making progress on its broader turnaround.
Norwegian enters Q2 earnings after a disappointing first quarter. Management lowered its full-year adjusted earnings guidance to $1.45 to $1.79 per share, down from its previous forecast of $2.38, citing higher fuel costs and weaker-than-expected bookings on certain European itineraries. New CEO John Chidsey has also acknowledged operational issues, but believes those issues are fixable. These include: pricing, commercial execution, and internal processes.
Details
Heading into Q2, pay particularly close attention to booking trends, pricing, and management's outlook for the second half of the year. Wall Street currently expects second-quarter revenue of roughly $2.63 billion and adjusted earnings per share of about $0.39. Those numbers do matter, but you really want to see whether management signals that bookings have improved and whether it can reaffirm or raise its full-year guidance.
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.