Carnival Corporation Ltd. vs Viking Holdings Ltd, two Marine Shipping stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Both are cruise operators, but Viking targets the older, higher-spend ocean and river traveler while Carnival runs the mass-market fleets. Viking earns more per dollar of revenue, a 17.66% net margin against Carnival's 11.23%, which fits its premium positioning. Cash generation is closer than the margin gap suggests: Viking's free-cash-flow yield is 5.59%, Carnival's is 7.94%, and Carnival adds a 6.72% dividend that Viking, recently public and still carrying heavy debt, does not match. At $45.8B, Viking is valued above Carnival's $40.3B despite far smaller revenue, a sign the market prizes the demographic and the margins. Same industry, different customer and different balance sheet.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | CCL | VIK |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $26.82 | $99.11 |
| Market cap | $37.2B | $44.0B |
| Sector | Marine Shipping | Marine Shipping |
| Stage | Mature | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +15.6% | +43.0% |
| P/E | 12.0 | 38.3 |
| P/B | 2.87 | 39.20 |
| P/S | 1.36 | 6.76 |
| EV/EBITDA | 8.5 | 23.5 |
| Revenue growth | +5.3% | +22.6% |
| Operating margin | 12.8% | 20.9% |
| Net margin | 11.2% | 17.7% |
| Return on equity | 23.6% | 102.4% |
| Return on assets | 5.9% | 9.4% |
| Return on invested capital | 10.8% | 131.7% |
| FCF yield | 8.6% | 5.8% |
| Dividend yield | 7.3% | — |
| Debt / equity | 2.08 | 0.00 |
| Current ratio | 0.33 | 0.79 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 6.51 | 6.03 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.