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How Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) makes money: Q2 2026 revenue breakdown
US GAAP · $M · vs Q2 2025 · reported 07/28/2026
Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a cruise holding company headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States and incorporated in Liberia. · Wikipedia
More about the company
It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival Corporation & plc. As of September 2025, Royal Caribbean Group fully owns three cruise lines: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises. It also holds a 50% stake in TUI Cruises, which operates Mein Schiff and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, with the Group's global fleet consisting of 71 ships.
Key growth driver: Onboard & Other — the fastest-growing revenue line: $1,488, +11% y/y. · by the Q2 2026 report
How does Royal Caribbean Group make money?
Royal Caribbean Group brought in $4.83 billion of revenue in Q2 2026, up 6.5% year over year. The largest source was Passenger Ticket Revenues: $3.34 billion, or 69% of the total, followed by Onboard & Other ($1.49B, 31%). Net income for the quarter was $1.13 billion, down 6.8% year over year.
Revenue by source, Q2 2026
- Passenger Ticket Revenues$3.34B · 69% · +4.5%
- Onboard & Other$1.49B · 31% · +11.1%
Shares of $4.83B total revenue; changes are year over year, as reported. ≈ marks lines derived from disclosed totals. The same flows are drawn in the Sankey chart below.
When is RCL’s next earnings date?
Tuesday, October 27, 2026estimated
Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) has not confirmed the date yet; Oct 27, 2026 is an estimate based on the company's past reporting schedule and may move once the date is announced. Consensus EPS forecast: $6.36 (8 analysts), vs $5.75 in the same quarter last year.
What time does RCL report? Usually before market open: the last 4 results releases reached the SEC at 6:32 am, 6:31 am, 6:32 am, 6:34 am ET.
Last report: Jul 28, 2026 (Q2 2026) — broken down in the Sankey chart below. Dates and consensus: Nasdaq / Zacks Investment Research; companies do reschedule. Who else reports this week →
All figures in $M.
Revenue
$4,832
+6.5%
Operating income
$1,307
−1.7%
27.0% margin
Net income
$1,128
−6.8%
23.3% margin · EPS $4.20
Verdict: demand is fine, costs caught up — revenue +6.5% to $4,832M (onboard spend +11%), but cruise operating expenses grew 11.6% with payroll +23% and fuel +27%, so operating income slipped 1.7% to $1,307M and net income fell 6% to $1,128M; the post-COVID margin expansion story paused this quarter.
Interest expense $236M; equity investment income $67M (vs $107M). Diluted shares 268M. Taxes near zero (foreign-incorporated cruise line).
Source and notation
Source: Royal Caribbean 10-Q consolidated statements (SEC EDGAR).
Open the chart as a PNG image ↗ · for sharing and presentations · free to reuse, CC BY 4.0
Heads-up
- net income fell 7% y/y in Q2 2026
Most likely because payroll +23% ($405M) and fuel +27% ($355M) are the story — cost inflation finally outran the +6.5% top line; onboard & other revenue (+11.1%, $1,488M) keeps outpacing ticket revenue (+4.5%) — passengers spend more once aboard; costs grew faster than revenue (fuel +27% y/y, payroll & related +23% y/y). Based on the Q2 2026 report.
Company filings on SEC EDGAR ↗RCL earnings history: past report dates
| Jul 28, 2026 Tue | 6:32 ambefore market open | Jun 30, 2026 | $4.8B+6% y/y | $4.20−5% y/y |
| Apr 30, 2026 Thu | 6:31 ambefore market open | Mar 31, 2026 | $4.5B+11% y/y | $3.48+29% y/y |
| Jan 29, 2026 Thu | 6:32 ambefore market open | Dec 31, 2025 | ≈$4.3B+13% y/y | ≈$2.76+22% y/y |
| Oct 28, 2025 Tue | 6:34 ambefore market open | Sep 30, 2025 | $5.1B+5% y/y | $5.74+36% y/y |
| Jul 29, 2025 Tue | 6:33 ambefore market open | Jun 30, 2025 | $4.5B+10% y/y | $4.41+42% y/y |
| Apr 29, 2025 Tue | 6:31 ambefore market open | Mar 31, 2025 | $4.0B+7% y/y | $2.70+100% y/y |
| Jan 28, 2025 Tue | 6:33 ambefore market open | Dec 31, 2024 | ≈$3.8B+13% y/y | ≈$2.27+97% y/y |
| Oct 29, 2024 Tue | 6:33 ambefore market open | Sep 30, 2024 | $4.9B+17% y/y | $4.21+15% y/y |
How we count
Report date and time — when the company filed its results press release with the SEC (Form 8-K, Item 2.02); the regular session runs 9:30 am – 4:00 pm ET. Revenue and diluted EPS — the company’s XBRL filings, EPS adjusted for stock splits; ≈ — fourth quarter derived as full year minus three quarters. Source: SEC EDGAR.
Royal Caribbean Group: 5-year financials
| 2025 | 17,935 | 4,910 | 4,268 | 1,236 | 824 |
| 2024 | 16,484 | 4,106 | 2,877 | 1,997 | 107 |
| 2023 | 13,900 | 2,878 | 1,697 | 580 | — |
| 2022 | 8,840 | −766 | −2,156 | −2,229 | — |
| 2021 | 1,532 | −3,870 | −5,260 | −4,108 | — |
$ millions, annual 10-K reports on SEC EDGAR (US GAAP).
How we calculate
Figures are the annual report lines as filed, no adjustments. Free cash flow is operating cash flow minus capital expenditures; dividends are cash paid to common shareholders during the year. “—” means the line isn’t in the filing.
Corporate governance
1.5/2mostly good
How the company treats minority shareholders: 2 — well, 0 — systematically poorly.
More
- Feb 2026Cover of the 2025 10-K: one class of Common Stock; 270.5M shares as of February 9, 2026 vs. 237.5M as of February 22, 2021 (+13.9%). sec.gov ↗
- Apr 2021In March 2021, 16.9M new shares were issued at $91 (≈$1.5B) to shore up liquidity during the cruise shutdown. sec.gov ↗
- Apr 2021A class action over COVID-19 risk disclosure was dismissed by the court on February 26, 2021 after plaintiffs voluntarily withdrew it, with no settlement. sec.gov ↗
- Feb 2026Dividend: zero in 2021–2023 (losses), $0.95 in 2024 and $3.50 per share in 2025; $1.16B buyback in 2025. data.sec.gov ↗
Scoring: 2.0 −0.5 (criterion 1: shares outstanding +13.9% over 5 years — secondary offering of 16.9M shares in March 2021 and bond conversions) = 1.5
- Share classes
- 10-K cover: one class — Common Stock $.01 (NYSE: RCL).
- Dilution
- Shares 237.5M (February 22, 2021) → 270.5M (February 9, 2026) = +13.9% (>10%): 16.9M shares issued at $91 in March 2021 (at market) plus bond conversions → −0.5; SBC 1% of revenue.
- Disclosure
- Full reporting, no violations.
- Dividends
- Dividend suspended in 2020 amid COVID losses (no deduction), reinstated in 2024 and raised: $3.50 per share in 2025.
- Lawsuits & regulators
- COVID disclosure class action (S.D. Fla., 2020) dismissed at plaintiffs' request on February 26, 2021 with no payout; the Havana Docks case (Helms-Burton) is not a shareholder suit; no SEC cases.
- Related parties
- No material transactions with management or major shareholders disclosed in the 2026 proxy.
How the score works · checked as of Sep 2026
Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) earnings: FAQ
How does Royal Caribbean Group make money?
Royal Caribbean Group brought in $4.83 billion of revenue in Q2 2026, up 6.5% year over year. The largest source was Passenger Ticket Revenues: $3.34 billion, or 69% of the total, followed by Onboard & Other ($1.49B, 31%). Net income for the quarter was $1.13 billion, down 6.8% year over year.
When is RCL's next earnings date?
Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) has not confirmed the date yet; Oct 27, 2026 is an estimate based on its past reporting schedule.
What time does RCL report earnings?
Royal Caribbean Group usually reports before market open: its latest results release was filed with the SEC at 6:32 am ET on Jul 28, 2026.
When did RCL last report earnings?
Royal Caribbean Group reported Q2 2026 results on Jul 28, 2026.
What is the EPS estimate for RCL's next earnings?
The consensus EPS forecast is $6.36 (8 analysts), vs $5.75 in the same quarter last year.
Where can I find Royal Caribbean Group's financial statements?
On SEC EDGAR: quarterly reports (10-Q), the annual report (10-K) and earnings releases (8-K). The “Verified” badge next to the chart links to RCL's filings; this page breaks the latest report down in a Sankey chart.
What was RCL's net income in Q2 2026?
Royal Caribbean Group reported net income of $1,128M for Q2 2026 (−6.8% year over year), under US GAAP.
Does Royal Caribbean Group pay dividends?
Yes. In 2025, Royal Caribbean Group paid $824M in dividends on its common stock, per its 10-K. Earlier years are in the five-year table above.
New to earnings reports? Start with how to read an earnings report.
How this page was made: the figures come from the company's own report on SEC EDGAR; the summary and nuances were drafted by our model from that report. Figures checked against the filing. How we make the breakdowns · Report an error
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