By
Anders Bylund (TMFZahrim)
|
More Articles
September 21, 2007
|
On Sept. 20, Miami-based cruise ship operator Carnival Cruise Lines (NYSE: CCL ) released third-quarter earnings for the period ended Aug. 31.
- Carnival took delivery of a couple of new ships just in time for the lucrative summer season and filled them to capacity. The results are showing in revenue and earnings growth.
- If you thought the bottom line looked good, shoot a glance at the cash flow figures. Yes, free cash flow ballooned mostly thanks to lower capital expenditures, but to everything (turn, turn, turn) there is a season (turn, turn, turn).
- Those steady margins are impressive in the light of 7.4% higher fuel costs over last year.
- The cruise business is booming, judging by recent results from Carnival, Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL ) , and the big-boat division of Disney (NYSE: DIS ) . But you can ride all of their successes with one investment -- check out five-star Motley Fool CAPS stock and Rule Breaker Steiner Leisure (Nasdaq: STNR ) .
(Figures are in millions, except per-share data.)
Income Statement Highlights
|
Q3 2007
|
Q3 2006
|
Change
|
|
Sales
|
$4,321
|
$3,905
|
10.7%
|
|
Net Profit
|
$1,377
|
$1,232
|
11.8%
|
|
EPS
|
$1.67
|
$1.49
|
12.1%
|
|
Diluted Shares
|
829.0
|
831.0
|
(0.2%)
|
Get back to basics with the income statement.
Margin Checkup
*Expressed in percentage points.
Margins are the earnings engine.
Balance Sheet Highlights
|
Assets
|
Q3 2007
|
Q3 2006
|
Change
|
|
Cash + ST Invest.
|
$1,753
|
$615
|
185.0%
|
|
Accounts Rec.
|
$423
|
$396
|
6.8%
|
|
Inventory
|
$297
|
$278
|
6.8%
|
|
Liabilities
|
Q3 2007
|
Q3 2006
|
Change
|
|
Accounts Payable
|
$468
|
$498
|
(6.0%)
|
|
Long-Term Debt
|
$5,735
|
$6,556
|
(12.5%)
|
The balance sheet reflects the company's health.
Cash Flow Highlights
|
Q3 2007
|
Q3 2006
|
Change
|
|
Cash From Ops.
|
$1,122
|
$943
|
19.0%
|
|
Capital Expenditures
|
$246
|
$699
|
(64.8%)
|
|
Free Cash Flow
|
$876
|
$244
|
259.0%
|
|
Owner Earnings
|
$1,410
|
$788
|
78.9%
|
Free cash flow is a Fool's best friend.
Related Foolishness:
Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check
Fool.com
for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean.
RSS Headlines
Fool UK