RCLROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD

Water Transportation

Revenue: $17.9B; 8.8% YoY
Operating margin: 27.4%; 9.9% YoY
EBITDA: $6.6B; 16% YoY
Market cap: $82.2B
Employees: 108,000; $166K revenue each
Net debt / EBITDA: 3.2×; $21.5B net debt
AI in 10-K: 0.6; mentions per 10K words

Takeover score 1 of 13

Fixable underperformance 0 of 7

TSR below peersNo
2 of 5 years
3+ of last 5 years
High CEO pay despite TSRNo
—
Median CEO pay ≥ $15M while TSR trails
Earnings not backed by cashNo
151% of net income
Cash flow under 80% of net income
Dilutive SBCNo
1% of revenue
Over 10% of revenue
Payouts exceed cash flowNo
31% of cash flow
Buybacks + dividends over cash flow
Goodwill-heavyNo
2% of assets
Over 40% of assets
Shareholder dissentNo
97% lowest support
Any vote under 80% support

Buyer economics 0 of 4

Low revenue per employeeNo
$166K per employee
Bottom quartile of its SIC industry
Quiet on AINo
0.6 per 10K words · 25th pct
Bottom quartile of AI mentions in 10-Ks
Net cashNo
3.2× EBITDA net debt
More cash than debt, positive EBITDA
Buyout-sizedNo
$82.2B market cap
Market cap $500M–$5B

Catalysts 1 of 2

Active 13DNo
0 filings
Active-intent 13D in 18 months
Net insider sellingYes
−$631M net
Net sales over $10M in 12 months

Financials

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025	YoY	Trend
Revenue	$1.5B	$8.8B	$13.9B	$16.5B	$17.9B	8.8%
Operating income	−$3.9B	−$766M	$2.9B	$4.1B	$4.9B	20%
Net income	−$5.3B	−$2.2B	$1.7B	$2.9B	$4.3B	48%
Operating cash flow	−$1.9B	$481M	$4.5B	$5.3B	$6.5B	23%
Capex	$2.2B	$2.7B	$3.9B	$3.3B	$5.2B	60%
Stock-based comp	$64M	$36M	$126M	$267M	$175M	34%
Buybacks	$0	—	$0	$0	$1.2B
Dividends	$0	$0	$0	$107M	$824M	670%

Deal filings

None.

13D filers

None on file.

Insider trading

Open-market buys, 12 mo: $0 · 0
Open-market sells, 12 mo: $631M · 125
Net: −$631M

Pay vs performance

Year	CEO total comp	Comp actually paid	TSR (indexed)	Peer TSR
FY2025	—	—	380	152
FY2024	—	—	310	141
FY2023	—	—	173	121
FY2022	—	—	66	89
FY2021	—	—	103	111