Norwegian Cruise Lines Share Price Up 12.3% In March

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) rose 12.3% in March, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, Billy Duberstein reported for Motley Fool.

Photo Insert: Norwegian Prima

NCLH share price bounced back after a difficult February, when earnings numbers missed analyst expectations and Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked fear that international travel may decrease.

Yet in March, one of Norwegian's cruise lines released strong bookings, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) further relaxed recommendations for cruises as the omicron variant receded, and two analysts upgraded the stock.

On March 7, Norwegian announced that its 2024 “Around the World in 180 Days” voyage on its Oceania Cruise line sold out within 30 minutes of ticket availability. It was a single-day bookings record for Norwegian, surpassing a previous record set last September.

The strong bookings were another data point that despite high inflation and concerns over the economy, demand for cruising still appears very, very strong. Days later, Norwegian introduced nine new food and beverage concepts in for its new Prima class vessels.

Pop star Katy Perry was also named "Godmother" of the Norwegian Prima ship and was on hand to celebrate the ship's christening in Iceland.

Perhaps these new company announcements and the loosening of COVID restrictions led to increased enthusiasm for the stock. In the middle of the month, analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "neutral" from "underweight."

Analyst Tim Allen said in his note, "We believe that NCLH is better positioned in the current recovery than competitors due to its higher-end customer skew, smaller fleet, greater oil hedging, and greater premium market risk (particularly Alaska)."

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