Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) was cut to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna on Wednesday, with analysts maintaining a $17 per share price target on the stock.
They told investors that despite recent positive results, the cruise line company is still going through its turnaround.
Analysts explained: "Despite a constructive mid-term guide from NCLH (e.g., >70% of sales over the last 90 days were for 2024 and 2025 sailings), it's clear the liner is still in the early-to-middle innings of its turnaround, with the return to pre-pandemic adjusted EBITDA margins going to take some time."
On Tuesday, NCLH posted earnings of $0.30 per share in Q2, $0.04 better than the analyst estimate of $0.26, while revenue for the quarter came in at $2.2 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.16 billion.
"While we have confidence in newly promoted CEO Harry Sommer, with the stock up ~80% YTD going into the print (vs. peers CCL +135%, RCL +120%, and the S&P +20%), a formal long-term guide likely several months away (we believe sometime in early 2024), and peer RCL potentially hitting their long-term targets sooner than expected, we're moving to the sidelines," analysts added.
NCLH shares are down over 3% premarket Wednesday at the time of writing.