(Bloomberg) -- Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. boosted its profit outlook for a fourth time this year as demand for sailings remains high, defying fears a slowdown in the wider leisure travel industry.
Adjusted earnings will be about $1.65 per share this year, according to a statement Thursday, 12 cents higher than Norwegian’s prior forecast and above the average analyst projection of $1.56.
Revenue and earnings in the third quarter were also above expectations as Norwegian carried nearly 29,000 more passengers than predicted.
Shares rose nearly 6% in early morning trading in New York. Peer Carnival Corp. was also up.
Norwegian’s results largely followed its two larger rivals, outperforming expectations thanks to surprisingly persistent demand for cruise vacations.
Cruise operators have bucked fears of a wider slowdown in leisure travel in part due to their relative affordability versus land-based vacation options. Cruise stocks are up by about 33% on average this year, compared to 14% for the S&P 500 Discretionary Sector Sub-Index.
Norwegian’s turnaround comes after it reported less than $1 billion in sales and $4 billion in losses in 2020 and 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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