Royal Caribbean price target raised to $283 from $257 at Citi

Citi raised the firm’s price target on Royal Caribbean (RCL) to $283 from $257 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm says its most recent work on the cruise industry points to ongoing positive trends, “albeit with pockets of sequential weakness” in web traffic to start the month of December. Consumer interest in cruises remained consistently strong throughout 2023 and into 2024, with trends showing stable second half of 2024 trends after having slowed somewhat after a strong Wave Season earlier this year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Citi believes estimates will continue to go higher for the cruise names, and says investors :seeking the strong growth characteristics, relative affordability, inexpensive valuation, demographic tailwinds, and tariff-free status of the cruise industry will push multiples modestly higher.”