Jefferies Upgrades Royal Caribbean Cruises to Buy from Hold
Fintel reports that on October 8, 2026, Jefferies upgraded their outlook for Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) (BRSE:RC8) from Hold to Buy.
This rating action follows a prior action on January 30, 2026, when Jefferies maintained its rating of Hold on the stock. Other analyst firms have also recently updated their assessments of the global cruise vacation company. On October 7, 2026, Barclays maintained its Overweight rating. On September 28, 2026, Tigress Financial maintained its Buy rating, and Deutsche Bank upgraded the company from Hold to Buy. Prior to that, on September 24, 2026, JP Morgan maintained its Overweight rating, while Truist Securities maintained its Hold rating. On September 23, 2026, BMO Capital reiterated its Outperform rating.
In the market, Royal Caribbean Cruises closed at $281.40 on October 8, 2026. This follows a close of $282.32 on October 7, 2026, the session prior to the rating action. The stock's price change over one week was +4.23%, measured against a baseline close of $269.99 on October 1, 2026. Over a one-month period, the price change was +6.39%, relative to a baseline close of $264.50 on September 8, 2026.
As of October 2, 2026, the current consensus target mean for the stock is $352.56, and the median is $353.43. The current mean target represents an implied change of +25.29%. This consensus target mean reflects a revision of -0.35% from the prior consensus target mean of $353.81 recorded on September 15, 2026.
The consensus recommendation distribution as of September 1, 2026, shows a total of 36 recommendations, consisting of 9 strong buy, 16 buy, 11 hold, 0 sell, and 0 strong sell ratings. This breakdown represents 69.4% positive, 30.6% hold, and 0.0% negative recommendations. These figures are identical to the prior recommendation period of August 1, 2026, which also recorded 36 total recommendations with 9 strong buy, 16 buy, 11 hold, 0 sell, and 0 strong sell ratings.
Royal Caribbean Cruises reported its latest quarterly earnings on July 28, 2026. The company reported actual earnings per share of 4.21, exceeding the estimate of 4.0239, which represents an earnings surprise of +4.62%. Actual revenue for the quarter was $4,832,000,000.00, compared to the estimated revenue of $4,865,282,110.00. The company's upcoming earnings announcement is scheduled for November 3, 2026, before the market opens (bmo).
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., headquartered in Miami, Florida, operates as a global cruise vacation company. The company owns and operates several fleets under brands including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises.
Recent analyst actions
| Date | Analyst | Prior | Latest recommendation | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 8, 2026 | Jefferies | Hold | Buy | upgrade |
| October 7, 2026 | Barclays | Overweight | Overweight | maintained |
| September 28, 2026 | Tigress Financial | Buy | Buy | maintained |
| September 28, 2026 | Deutsche Bank | Hold | Buy | upgrade |
| September 24, 2026 | JP Morgan | Overweight | Overweight | maintained |
| September 24, 2026 | Truist Securities | Hold | Hold | maintained |
| September 23, 2026 | BMO Capital | Outperform | Outperform | reiterated |
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This story originally appeared on Fintel.