RCL NYSE Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines Financials FY2016βFY2025
Royal Caribbean Group sells cruise vacations. It owns three global brands: Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea. Royal Caribbean aims at families and couples with casual ships. Celebrity Cruises sells a more upscale experience. Silversea runs smaller, luxury and expedition ships to remote places such as Antarctica. Ships call on more than 1,000 destinations on all seven continents, and the company also owns private land-based destinations for its guests.
Hi! I read Royal Caribbean Groupβs latest annual report (fiscal 2025). Here is what stands out:
Good So-so Weak
Are sales growing?
+8.8%
Yes. Sales grew 8.8% last year.
Does it make a profit?
23.8%
Yes. It keeps 23.8% of every sale as profit.
Does profit turn into cash?
6.9%
Partly. 6.9% of sales ends up as free cash.
Is debt under control?
3.1x
Heavy. Repaying its debt would take 3.1 years of operating profit.
How healthy are the accounts?
9 / 9
Solid. It passes 9 of 9 health tests.
How is the share priced?
17.1x
One share costs 17.1 times its yearly profit per share. Typical for its sector: 17.9x.
Rules of thumb on reported numbers. A starting point, not a recommendation.
Is it selling more, and how much does it keep?
In plain words: Every quarter, companies publish how much they sold and earned. These are the days Royal Caribbean Group did it, and the next one. Share prices often move a lot on those days.
Next results
October 27, 2026
Tuesday Β· tomorrow
| Date | Results for | Time | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 2026 | Q2 '26 | Before the market opens | 8-K β |
| Apr 30, 2026 | Q1 '26 | Before the market opens | 8-K β |
| Jan 29, 2026 | Q4 '25 | Before the market opens | 8-K β |
| Oct 28, 2025 | Q3 '25 | Before the market opens | 8-K β |
| Jul 29, 2025 | Q2 '25 | Before the market opens | 8-K β |
| Apr 29, 2025 | Q1 '25 | Before the market opens | 8-K β |
| Jan 28, 2025 | Q4 '24 | Before the market opens | 8-K β |
| Oct 29, 2024 | Q3 '24 | Before the market opens | 8-K β |
From SEC filings: the results press release (8-K) or, without one, the quarterly or annual report.
KIRA Β· Royal Caribbean Group had $17.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 8.8% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed +52.0% a year on average. Its operating margin was 27.4%, up 2.5Β pts: of every 100 in sales, about 27 is left after running the business.
In plain words: Revenue is all the money customers paid. The margins show how many cents of each dollar of sales are left over at each step: after making the product (gross), after running the business (operating) and after everything, tax included (net).
Revenue
Revenue
Margins, % of revenue
Margins, % of revenue
KIRA Β· Royal Caribbean Group made $4.3B of net profit in fiscal 2025. From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew 11.4% a year.
Loss periods are shown in red.
In plain words: Net income is the profit left after every cost and tax. Earnings per share (EPS) splits that profit across every share, so it shows what one share earned.
Net income
Net income
Diluted EPS
Diluted EPS
How much cash comes in, and where does it go?
KIRA Β· Free cash flow was $1.2B in fiscal 2025, 6.9% of revenue.
Cash from operations minus capital spending.
In plain words: Profit on paper is not the same as cash in the bank. Free cash flow is the cash left after paying to run and maintain the business: the money it can hand back to shareholders, save or invest.
Free cash flow
Free cash flow
Cash from operations vs capital spending
Cash from operations vs capital spending
KIRA Β· Royal Caribbean Group returned $2.0B to shareholders in fiscal 2025, 160% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 1.8%.
In plain words: Companies hand cash back in two ways: dividends (cash paid to shareholders) and buybacks (buying back their own shares, so each remaining share owns a bigger slice).
Dividends and buybacks
Dividends and buybacks
Diluted shares outstanding (annual)
KIRA Β· In the last 12 months, insiders sold $524M of shares on the open market and bought none.
Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from Form 4 filings. βPlanβ marks trades under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
In plain words: Insiders are the people who run or own a big part of the company. Buying with their own money can signal confidence; selling often has personal reasons, like taxes or diversifying.
Bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Sold, 12 months
$524M
4 insiders
Of sales under plans
0%
$0.0M
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 2026 | Michael W BayleyPres&CEO, Royal Caribbean Intl | Sold | 12,811 | $315.99 | $4.0M | Form 4 |
| Feb 27, 2026 | Arne Alexander WilhelmsenDirector | Sold | 245,476 | $311.54 | $76.5M | Form 4 |
| Feb 26, 2026 | Arne Alexander WilhelmsenDirector | Sold | 356,026 | $318.39 | $113M | Form 4 |
| Feb 25, 2026 | Arne Alexander WilhelmsenDirector | Sold | 170,105 | $315.92 | $53.7M | Form 4 |
| Feb 24, 2026 | Arne Alexander WilhelmsenDirector | Sold | 345,111 | $315.73 | $109M | Form 4 |
| Feb 23, 2026 | Arne Alexander WilhelmsenDirector | Sold | 19,140 | $317.30 | $6.1M | Form 4 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Arne Alexander WilhelmsenDirector | Sold | 109,297 | $314.81 | $34.4M | Form 4 |
| Feb 19, 2026 | Arne Alexander WilhelmsenDirector | Sold | 101,902 | $312.09 | $31.8M | Form 4 |
| Feb 18, 2026 | Arne Alexander WilhelmsenDirector | Sold | 104,540 | $321.64 | $33.6M | Form 4 |
| Feb 17, 2026 | Arne Alexander WilhelmsenDirector | Sold | 180,000 | $325.09 | $58.5M | Form 4 |
| Feb 17, 2026 | Laura H BethgePresident, Celebrity Cruises | Sold | 7,854 | $326.21 | $2.6M | Form 4 |
| Feb 17, 2026 | Maritza Gomez MontielDirector | Sold | 1,385 | $327.18 | $0.5M | Form 4 |
Can it carry its debts, and how well does it use its money?
KIRA Β· Royal Caribbean Group owes $20.5B more than it holds in cash, about 3.1 years of operating profit.
Cash, debt and the ratios that show how comfortably Royal Caribbean Group can carry it.
In plain words: What the company owns and what it owes. More cash than debt is a cushion for bad times; a lot of debt leaves less room when business slows down.
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | $2.7B | $1.9B | $497M | $388M | $825M |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $21.1B | $23.4B | $21.5B | $20.1B | $21.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | β | 33.5x | 4.8x | 3.5x | 3.1x |
| Debt / equity | 4.2x | 8.2x | 4.5x | 2.7x | 2.1x |
| Interest coverage | β3.0x | β0.6x | 2.1x | 2.6x | 5.0x |
| Current ratio | 0.5x | 0.4x | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.2x |
| Quick ratio | 0.5x | 0.4x | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.2x |
| Total assets | $32.3B | $33.8B | $35.1B | $37.1B | $41.6B |
| Total liabilities | $27.2B | $30.9B | $30.2B | $29.3B | $31.4B |
| Shareholders' equity | $5.1B | $2.9B | $4.7B | $7.6B | $10.0B |
| Net debt (β = net cash) | $18.4B | $21.5B | $21.0B | $19.7B | $20.5B |
KIRA Β· Its return on capital was 16.6%: every 100 invested in the business earned about 17 in a year.
After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
In plain words: How much profit the business makes on the money put into it. A higher percentage means each dollar invested works harder.
Return on capital, equity and assets (annual)
KIRA Β· Royal Caribbean Group passes 9 of 9 financial health tests (Piotroski F-score).
Nine pass/fail tests of profitability, funding and efficiency. 8β9 is strong, 0β2 weak.
In plain words: Nine yes/no tests of financial health, one point each. A green tick is a pass: 7 to 9 points is solid, 0 to 3 is weak.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations is positive | β | β | β |
| Return on assets rose | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | β | β | β |
| Debt fell relative to assets | β | β | β |
| Current ratio rose | β | β | β |
| Share count didn't rise | β | β | β |
| Gross margin rose | β | β | β |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | β | β | β |
| F-score | 7 / 9 | 8 / 9 | 9 / 9 |
| Accruals ratio | β8.1% | β6.6% | β5.6% |
| Altman Z'' | β0.70 | β0.18 | 0.05 |
What does the share cost, and how does it compare?
KIRA Β· At $276.48 a share, the company is worth $74.1B: 17.1 times its earnings of the last four quarters.
Change the assumptions and see what they imply per share. These are models, not forecasts or price targets β the answer depends entirely on what you put in.
In plain words: Move the sliders to try your own guesses about growth. The result is what one share would be worth if those guesses came true. Different guesses give very different answers.
Value per share
β
Adds net cash of β$20.5B and divides by 274.0M diluted shares. Ten years of cash flows plus a terminal value, discounted to today.
Value per share
β
Reference multiples: today 17.1x Β· peers 28.5x Β· sector 17.9x.
KIRA Β· Royal Caribbean Group grew sales faster than 3 of its 4 similar companies. Its P/E is higher than 1 of 4.
Each companyβs latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods donβt line up exactly.
In plain words: The same numbers for similar companies, so you can tell whether a figure is high or low for this kind of business.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Caribbean Group RCL | $74.1B | 8.8% | 27.4% | 6.9% | 16.6% | 17.1x | 9 | |
| Expedia Group EXPE | $35.4B | 7.6% | 12.7% | 21.1% | 40.5% | 18.0x | 8 | Compare β |
| Marriott International MAR | $103.3B | 4.3% | 15.8% | 10.0% | 27.4% | 40.4x | 7 | Compare β |
| Airbnb ABNB | $102.7B | 10.3% | 20.8% | β | β | 39.1x | 6 | Compare β |
| Carnival CCL | $35.7B | 6.4% | 16.8% | 9.8% | 12.1% | 11.4x | 7 | Compare β |
Every number, year by year.
Amounts in USD. Hover a ratioβs name for its definition.
In plain words: Every number we have, year by year. Download it as a spreadsheet if you want to dig deeper.
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $8.5B | $8.8B | $9.5B | $11.0B | $2.2B | $1.5B | $8.8B | $13.9B | $16.5B | $17.9B |
| Gross profit | $3.5B | $3.9B | $4.2B | $4.9B | β$556M | β$1.2B | $2.2B | $6.1B | $7.8B | $8.9B |
| Operating income | $1.5B | $1.7B | $1.9B | $2.1B | β$4.6B | β$3.9B | β$766M | $2.9B | $4.1B | $4.9B |
| Interest expense | $307M | $300M | $334M | $409M | $844M | $1.3B | $1.4B | $1.4B | $1.6B | $992M |
| Pretax income | β | β | β | β | β | β$5.3B | β$2.2B | $1.7B | $2.9B | $4.4B |
| Income tax | β | β | β | β | β | β$45.0M | $4.0M | $6.0M | $46.0M | $82.0M |
| Net income | $1.3B | $1.6B | $1.8B | $1.9B | β$5.8B | β$5.3B | β$2.2B | $1.7B | $2.9B | $4.3B |
| Diluted EPS | $5.93 | $7.53 | $8.56 | $8.95 | β$27.05 | β$20.89 | β$8.45 | $6.31 | $10.94 | $15.61 |
| Diluted shares | 0.22B | 0.22B | 0.21B | 0.21B | 0.21B | 0.25B | 0.26B | 0.28B | 0.28B | 0.27B |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | $2.5B | $2.9B | $3.5B | $3.7B | β$3.7B | β$1.9B | $481M | $4.5B | $5.3B | $6.5B |
| Capital expenditure | $2.5B | $564M | $3.7B | $3.0B | $2.0B | $2.2B | $2.7B | $3.9B | $3.3B | $5.2B |
| Free cash flow | $22.3M | $2.3B | β$181M | $692M | β$5.7B | β$4.1B | β$2.2B | $580M | $2.0B | $1.2B |
| Depreciation and amortization | $895M | $951M | $1.0B | $1.2B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.4B | $1.5B | $1.6B | $1.7B |
| Stock-based compensation | $32.7M | $69.5M | $46.1M | $75.9M | $39.8M | $64.0M | $36.0M | $126M | $267M | $175M |
| Acquisitions | $0.0M | $0.0M | $916M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Share buybacks | $300M | $225M | $575M | $99.6M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $1.2B |
| Dividends paid | $347M | $438M | $528M | $603M | $326M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $107M | $824M |
| Dividends and buybacks | $646M | $662M | $1.1B | $702M | $326M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $107M | $2.0B |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $133M | $120M | $288M | $244M | $3.7B | $2.7B | $1.9B | $497M | $388M | $825M |
| Total debt | $9.4B | $7.5B | $10.8B | $11.0B | $19.3B | $21.1B | $23.4B | $21.5B | $20.1B | $21.3B |
| Finance lease liabilities | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $230M | $213M | $472M | $351M | $369M | $117M | $159M |
| Current assets | $748M | $908M | $1.2B | $1.2B | $4.3B | $3.6B | $3.2B | $1.8B | $1.7B | $2.2B |
| Current liabilities | $4.4B | $4.9B | $7.1B | $8.0B | $4.5B | $7.3B | $8.6B | $9.4B | $9.8B | $12.1B |
| Inventory | $114M | $111M | $154M | $162M | $119M | $150M | $224M | $248M | $265M | $264M |
| Property and equipment, net | $20.2B | $19.7B | $23.5B | $25.5B | $25.2B | $25.9B | $27.5B | $30.1B | $31.8B | $35.7B |
| Total assets | $22.3B | $22.4B | $27.7B | $30.3B | $32.5B | $32.3B | $33.8B | $35.1B | $37.1B | $41.6B |
| Total liabilities | $13.2B | $11.7B | $16.1B | $17.6B | $23.7B | $27.2B | $30.9B | $30.2B | $29.3B | $31.4B |
| Shareholders' equity | $9.1B | $10.7B | $11.1B | $12.2B | $8.8B | $5.1B | $2.9B | $4.7B | $7.6B | $10.0B |
| Margins | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 41.0% | 44.2% | 44.6% | 44.6% | β25.2% | β78.8% | 25.2% | 44.1% | 47.5% | 49.4% |
| Operating margin | 17.4% | 19.9% | 20.0% | 19.0% | β208.3% | β252.6% | β8.7% | 20.7% | 24.9% | 27.4% |
| EBITDA margin | 27.9% | 30.7% | 30.9% | 30.4% | β150.4% | β168.2% | 7.3% | 31.2% | 34.6% | 37.0% |
| Net margin | 15.1% | 18.5% | 19.1% | 17.2% | β262.5% | β343.3% | β24.4% | 12.2% | 17.5% | 23.8% |
| FCF margin | 0.3% | 26.3% | β1.9% | 6.3% | β257.9% | β268.2% | β25.2% | 4.2% | 12.1% | 6.9% |
| Returns | ||||||||||
| Return on capital | 6.7% | 7.6% | 7.5% | 7.4% | β15.4% | β12.8% | β2.5% | 11.4% | 15.2% | 16.6% |
| Return on capital employed | 8.6% | 9.9% | 10.0% | 9.7% | β18.3% | β14.6% | β3.1% | 11.3% | 15.5% | 17.3% |
| Return on equity | 14.9% | 16.4% | 16.6% | 16.2% | β55.4% | β76.0% | β54.2% | 44.7% | 46.8% | 48.5% |
| Return on assets | 6.0% | 7.3% | 7.2% | 6.5% | β18.5% | β16.3% | β6.5% | 4.9% | 8.0% | 10.9% |
| Growth | ||||||||||
| Revenue growth | 2.4% | 3.3% | 8.2% | 15.3% | β79.8% | β30.6% | 477.0% | 57.2% | 18.6% | 8.8% |
| Net income growth | 92.8% | 26.6% | 11.4% | 3.8% | β408.6% | β | β | β | 69.5% | 48.4% |
| EPS growth | 96.4% | 27.0% | 13.7% | 4.6% | β402.2% | β | β | β | 73.4% | 42.7% |
| FCF growth | β93.3% | 10,248.1% | β107.8% | β | β923.6% | β | β | β | 244.3% | β38.1% |
| Share count change | β2.0% | β0.3% | β1.9% | β0.8% | 2.1% | 17.6% | 1.2% | 11.0% | β1.4% | β1.8% |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.9x | 2.8x | 3.6x | 3.2x | β | β | 33.5x | 4.8x | 3.5x | 3.1x |
| Debt / equity | 1.0x | 0.7x | 1.0x | 0.9x | 2.2x | 4.2x | 8.2x | 4.5x | 2.7x | 2.1x |
| Interest coverage | 4.8x | 5.8x | 5.7x | 5.1x | β5.5x | β3.0x | β0.6x | 2.1x | 2.6x | 5.0x |
| Current ratio | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.2x | 1.0x | 0.5x | 0.4x | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.2x |
| Quick ratio | 0.1x | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.1x | 0.9x | 0.5x | 0.4x | 0.2x | 0.2x | 0.2x |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Capex / revenue | 29.4% | 6.4% | 38.6% | 27.6% | 89.0% | 145.6% | 30.7% | 28.0% | 19.8% | 29.2% |
| Stock comp / revenue | 0.4% | 0.8% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 1.8% | 4.2% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 1.6% | 1.0% |
| Payouts / FCF | 2,895.4% | 28.7% | β | 101.5% | β | β | β | 0.0% | 5.4% | 160.4% |
| Quality scores | ||||||||||
| Piotroski F-score | 7.0 | 8.0 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 |
| Altman Z'' | 1.2 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | β0.1 | β1.3 | β1.3 | β0.7 | β0.2 | 0.1 |
| Accruals ratio | β5.7% | β5.6% | β6.7% | β6.3% | β6.6% | β10.5% | β8.0% | β8.1% | β6.6% | β5.6% |
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000884887). Data updated October 9, 2026. Quarterly fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. For information only β not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.
