For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - June 10, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: J.P. Morgan (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Citibank (C), Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival Corporation (CCL).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday's Analyst Blog:

A Stress-Test Do-Over?

The good thing is that, with the exception of the unemployment rate, things have not been worse than the more adverse scenario, and the banks have been able to raise the capital needed to withstand that scenario. The release of the original stress test

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Royal Caribbean (RCL) announced this morning that the outbreak of the H1N1 virus, or "swine flu," would negatively impact the company's earnings by approximately $0.22 per share.Last month, Royal Caribbean's competitor Carnival Corporation & plc (CCL), (CUK) announced that it would be negatively impacted by approximately $0.05 per share, with the potential for an additional negative $0.05 per share going forward.The fact that the impact of the outbreak was notably greater to Royal Caribbean, relative to Carnival, is not surprising. The flu outbreak occurred just prior to the scheduled launch of a new Royal Caribbean product, Pacific Dream, targeting Mexican nationals. The company was forced to cancel the launch, and the ship sat idle. The associated expenses and lost revenue added to the expense of changing existing itineraries away from Mexican ports.Given the state of the economy and pressures on ...

The Consumer Discretionary sector is one of the more intuitive sectors, with earnings driven by consumer spending.  The consumer-led nature of this recession has driven discretionary stocks south, with households cutting spending and increasing savings rates (to 3.6%). The companies that have faired the best over the 18 months have been those with strong balance sheets and large market caps that offer less discretionary product lines. Sub-sectors that have performed especially well are discount restaurants, discount retailers and education services. Subsectors hardest hit, on the other hand, include specialty stores, automotives, publishing, and gaming. Some of these sub-sectors, particularly automotive and publishing, have inherently flawed business models whose recover-ability is questionable. Others have been pulled down by their ultra-discretionary product lines as consumers cut big ticket items. Left in between are companies that offer products discretionary in nature but without the big-ticket price tag. These companies were heavily discounted as

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Highlights include Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. (RCL) and Carnival Corporation (CCL).Shares of Royal Caribbean (RCL) are trading sharply higher this morning after the company reported first-quarter results that exceeded Street expectations, and issued full-year earnings guidance above the current Street consensus estimate.At first glance, these appear to be very strong numbers. Even after accounting for the reported upside to first quarter estimates, the company's full-year guidance implies earnings per share for the remainder of the year approximately $0.20 -- greater than the current Street consensus view.The fact that close-in booking patterns remained stable is a good sign, in our opinion. While the current trend towards customers booking cruises closer to the actual departure date limits the amount of visibility in the company's business, the stabilization of consumer booking trends allows some degree of confidence in forward projections, for both Royal Caribbean ...

Highlights include Carnival Corporation (CUK), Carnival plc (CUK) and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL).Carnival Corporation and plc (CUK, CCL) is keeping its cruise ships full, but only by significantly cutting prices. While this is great news for consumers looking for a vacation deal, the moves will likely put pressure on revenues and margins going forward.The company reported first quarter results that exceeded Street estimates yesterday. However, Carnival lowered its full-year outlook as pressures from the economic recession continue to impact the company's business.Although the 1st-quarter results were impressive given the economic environment, investors are far more concerned with the outlook going forward. To that end, management stated that booking trends remain strong, and are actually up year-over-year.This strength in bookings is somewhat deceptive, however, as the company has been required to substantially reduce its prices. Management ...

Carnival Corporation & plc (CCL) is loitering around breakeven this afternoon following a mixed fiscal first-quarter report, which saw the cruise operator beat EPS expectations but pull back on full-year estimates.

Earlier today, the company reported earnings per share of 33 cents, compared to 30 cents in the previous year. Analysts were only expecting 19 cents. CCL stated that lower revenue yields were offset by lower fuel prices from the previous year, while its focus on cost controls also helped.

Revenues declined by about 9% to $2.9 billion from $3.2 billion.

CCL is certainly feeling the impact of the difficult economic landscape, and is, therefore, focusing on cost controls and a strong liquidity position. Booking volumes for the rest of the year are actually running 10% better than the prior year, but at significantly lower prices.

Due in part to this, CCL pulled back on 2009 EPS to

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As a single economic entity, Carnival Corporation (CCL) & Carnival, Plc (CUK) is the largest cruise operator in the world. Carnival's cruise ships offer various itineraries to passengers worldwide under leading cruise brands.We maintain our Hold rating for Carnival Corporation following the release of Q4 financial results. Given our expectation for continuing margin pressures and potential demand weakness, we do not feel that material price appreciation is warranted at this time.While the recent pullback in the price of fuel should provide some relief, a great deal of uncertainty remains heading into fiscal 2009. The recent dividend suspension has afforded Carnival increased financial flexibility, however. Our six-month target price of $22.50 is based on a multiple of 8.5x expected 2009 earnings.Read the full analyst report on CCLRead the full analyst report on CUK ...

Florida was a turning point in the presidential election four years ago. This year, it wasn't as significant politically but it is significant from an economic standpoint. Florida is one of those places you visit for pleasure and stay for business. Beautiful beaches and tropical weather attract tourists from all over the world, and the state’s low cost of living, and business friendly policies keep them there. Actually over 1,000 people relocate to Florida daily. Some interesting facts about Florida are:1. Florida residents spend less on energy than any other state in the country.2. Florida is the top travel destination in the world, with a total of 77 billion visitors in 2004.3. The aerospace industry of Florida generates 23,000 jobs.4. Florida produces about 40% of total world supply of orange juice.5. Florida is the number 4 producer of nonfuel ...

We maintain our Hold rating for Carnival Corporation (CCL) and Carnival Plc (CUK) following the release of Q3 financial results. We expect Carnival to continue to trade at a premium to its largest competitor over the near-term. As a single economic entity, Carnival Corporation & Carnival Plc is the largest cruise operator in the world.

However, given our expectation for continuing margin pressures, especially related to significantly higher fuel expenses, we do not feel that material price appreciation is warranted at this time. While the recent pullback in the price of fuel should provide some relief, we note that costs remain significantly higher on a year-over-year basis.

Carnival has historically traded at a premium to Royal Caribbean (RCL), based on forward price-to-earnings multiples. This relationship still holds, based on current prices and our forward twelve-month EPS estimates for both companies. While Carnival Corporation is trading at 14.0x estimated

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Carnival Corporation (CCL) had a pretty good fiscal third quarter despite its earnings per share declining on a year-over-year basis in a difficult environment. The cruise company earned $1.65 in the quarter, which was down 2 cents from last year but ahead of the consensus at $1.61. Furthermore, revenue advanced approximately 11% to $4.8 billion.

CCL now expects full-year 2008 earnings per share between $2.79 and $2.81, which is at the high end of its previous guidance between $2.70 and $2.80. However, the company also said that occupancy levels for advance bookings are slightly behind the prior year. Ticket prices for these bookings are at higher levels.

The company is a Zacks #3 Rank, so earnings estimates havenÂ’t moved much in the past couple of months. CCL appears to be operating well at a tough time for a cruise company, so it will be interesting to see what

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