What happened
Cruise ship stocks rose on Wednesday after the White House said the U.S. would have enough coronavirus vaccines available to inoculate every adult in the country two months earlier than anticipated.
As of 1:05 p.m. EST, shares of Royal Caribbean (RCL -0.31%), Carnival (CCL 1.13%) (CUK 1.06%), and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH 1.17%) were up 4%, 6%, and 8%, respectively.
So what
The White House's announcement came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson for its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine. J&J has partnered with fellow pharmaceutical giant Merck to ramp up the production of the drug. "What this means is that Americans are going to get shots in the arm faster, and we're very excited about the potential impact that this can have overall on the situation," J&J CEO Alex Gorsky said on Tuesday.
Investors bid up the prices of cruise ship stocks on Wednesday. Image source: Getty Images.
An accelerated vaccine rollout could help to bring about the end of the pandemic sooner than many investors had expected. That would be a boon for the beleaguered cruise industry.
Now what
With most of their ships stuck at port, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line have all suffered brutal losses during the health crisis. A sharp decline in COVID-19 case counts could allow them to resume full-scale sailing operations. Such an influx of revenue would enable the major cruise line operators to begin to recover from their losses -- and help to ensure their survival.
