Carnival stock, along with shares of Elbit Systems and Century Aluminum, are issues to watch as analysts are stepping up profit expectations for the companies. Two of the stocks have reached buy zones.
The cruise operator, defense contractor and commodities producer are on Investor's Business Daily's screen for Rising Profit Estimates. The screen tracks top-rated growth stocks with analysts upwardly revising their earnings estimates for the current year and next year.
S&P 500 constituent Carnival is poised to contribute to Wall Street's view that Corporate America will stretch its run of quarterly-profit expansion. Carnival shares last week moved toward their strongest close since March 2, 2020, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That's when the stock market staged a historic rebound early in the Covid era.
Cruise lines suspending excursions during the pandemic led to a $77 billion hit to global economic activity in mid-March through September 2020, according to a Cruise Lines International Association report.
Carnival and other cruise lines have since swung into profit-making mode after losing billions of dollars during the health crisis.
Carnival Stock Hits A High
This past Sept. 11, Carnival stock logged a 52-week high of $32.80, in part as Argus Research raised its price target to $40 from $30. That implied nearly 28% upside from the cruise operator's Sept. 10 close.
Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, and Melius Research have also pushed up their price targets in recent days, moves made ahead of Carnival's third-quarter report due Sept. 29.
Wall Street analysts have drawn 2025 adjusted-earnings projections upward to a mean of $2.01 a share since late June's standing at $1.99, according to FactSet. The company, which runs a fleet of 29 ships, posted adjusted earnings of $1.42 a share in fiscal 2024.
In late June, Carnival raised its full-year forecast and posted second-quarter results outstripping Wall Street's targets. Passenger spending "onboard was really quite strong throughout the quarter," Carnival Chief Executive Josh Weinstein said during the company's earnings call. He added higher ticket prices helped drive up quarterly results.
Adjusted earnings soared by 218% to 35 cents a share on a 9% revenue rise to a record $6.3 billion, IBD MarketSurge data show.
Carnival stock is extended on its daily chart even as it edged below its 10-week line during Tuesday trade. It's still above its 50-day line. MarketSurge shows shares pushed into a 20% profit zone during a six-session rally that began June 26, following the company's quarterly results.
Three-Weeks-Tight Pattern
However, Carnival's weekly chart shows the stock coming off a three-weeks-tight consolidation pattern. The pattern's high of 32.80 serves as the latest buy point where investors can build on positions before the stock potentially rises to new highs.
Carnival shares are up more than 30% from a 23.68 entry established May 16 in a cup-with-handle pattern. The base is in stage 1, which usually produces larger gains than a third- or fourth-stage bases.
Carnival recently bumped up its fiscal 2025 outlook, and now calls for adjusted earnings of $1.97 a share from its $1.83 view in March. Analysts foresee 4% growth in the third quarter to $1.32 a share year-over-year, followed by a 50% pop to 21 cents a share for the fourth quarter. For 2026, analysts expect 15% expansion to $2.32 a share.
Carnival's upcoming report will factor into Wall Street's analysis of third-quarter earnings from S&P 500 companies. Analysts, on average, expect a 7.6% rate of profit growth, a FactSet report said. That would cement a ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year earnings increasing but would also mark the lowest rate since 5.8% in the first quarter of 2024.
Elbit Systems Stands Out In Rare Pattern
Elbit Systems stock is in a buy zone off a rarely seen chart pattern. A price jump of about 95% this year includes a 5.6% rally on Aug. 13. That's when the Israel-based defense company posted better-than-expected results for its second quarter and said it landed a $1.64 billion contract from a European country that it did not disclose.
Wall Street is looking for the maker of drones, combat vehicles, high-power lasers, and other defense technology to post double-digit earnings growth in 2025 and 2026.
The stock in its daily chart is in a buy zone that reaches up to 519.03 from a 494.32 entry that shares passed Aug. 5. That chart shows the shares in a rare ascending-base pattern that can set up a breakout to new highs and substantial gains for investors. A series of three price pullbacks, each logging a higher high and a higher low, creates the ascending base, and the formation can take longer to create than most other bases.
On the weekly chart, Elbit shares are coming out from a flat base. The stock closed at 503.42 on Monday, up nearly 6% from the pattern's 476.04 entry.
Wall Street analysts, in ratcheting up earnings estimates, foresee Elbit posting 19% profit growth to 10.40 a share in 2025 from the year-ago period. A stronger 32% increase to 13.72 a share in 2026 is expected.
Elbit said European sales rose in the second quarter and there's was a "material increase in the demand for its products and solutions" from the Israel Defense Ministry. On Tuesday, Israel Defense Forces said it started a ground offensive in Gaza City, according to news reports. The move in the Palestinian territory expands Israel's nearly two-year war against Hamas.
Century Aluminum Stock Buoyed By Trump Tariffs
In raising expectations, analysts project triple-digit profit growth from Century Aluminum this year. The stock is in a buy zone off consolidations on both its daily and weekly chart patterns. The stock also just pushed beyond a key IBD technical benchmark.
The roughly 43% climb in shares this year includes a 21% surge on June 2 as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would increase tariffs on aluminum imports to 50% from 25%. Chicago-based Century Aluminum says it's the largest producer of primary aluminum in the U.S.
"(We) are seeing strong domestic demand for all of our products and our customers are increasing orders," leading from the increase in aluminum tariffs twice this year, Century Aluminum Chief Executive Jesse Gary said in an August earnings call.
The June-levy lift will be fully reflected in the company's fourth-quarter results, he said. The company's high-purity aluminum is used in the defense and aerospace industries, and in other applications.
Two analysts foresee 107% adjusted earnings growth in 2025 to 2.30 a share, according to FactSet. They also project a 43% increase to $3.42 a share in 2026.
Century Aluminum is in a buy zone ranging from its 25.39 entry to 26.65. But investors should be mindful that the stock is in the third stage of consolidation. IBD research shows later-stage patterns tend to yield more modest gains compared with early-stage ones.
IBD Ratings: Carnival Stock Gets Top Marks
IBD's Stock Checkup tool shows Carnival stock ranks first in the leisure-services group. The stock also has a high 97 Composite Rating out of 99, and a Relative Strength Rating of 90. Its Earnings Per Share Rating is 82.
American depositary receipts of U.K.-based Carnival PLC are ranked third in the leisure-services group.
Elbit holds a 90 IBD Earnings Per Share Rating. Further, its 94 Relative Strength Rating indicates the stock has outperformed 94% of those tracked in IBD's database over the past 12 months.
As for Century Aluminum, the shares cleared a technical benchmark Monday, registering a 91 Relative Strength Rating at IBD that measures market leadership to a top score of 99.
The company also stands atop the Metal-Fabricators industry group, followed by Mueller Industries and Insteel Industries .
Carla Mozee is assistant markets editor at Investor's Business Daily. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @MWMozee.
