Carnival declares $0.15-a-share dividend under resumed quarterly payout program
Key Facts
Carnival announced that its board of directors had declared a cash dividend of $0.15 per share, according to an announcement published on the company's official website on October 22, 2026. The company said in the announcement that it had "declared a dividend of $0.15 per share," the latest payout under its resumed quarterly dividend program. The decision follows cash payments to shareholders totaling $204 million during the third quarter of 2026, according to the company's earnings release. Total dividends paid by Carnival from the start of the year through the end of that quarter reached $618 million. The dividend announced in October adds to the company's return of capital to shareholders, which has included cash dividends and share buybacks during the year.
Approval to resume Carnival's dividends dates back to December 2025, when its boards of directors approved the reinstatement of quarterly dividends, according to its annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The boards then approved a share repurchase program in March 2026, according to the company's quarterly report filed with the SEC. The authorization set a limit of up to $2.5 billion in Carnival shares, adding buybacks to cash dividends as part of the funds allocated to shareholders. In its third-quarter earnings announcement dated September 29, 2026, the company said it had executed about $1.2 billion in buybacks since the start of the year. That figure represents purchases the company reported completing, while $2.5 billion represents the maximum authorized for the program in March.
On financial performance, Carnival reported revenue of $8,435 million for the third quarter of 2026, according to its earnings release for the period. That compares with $8,153 million in the corresponding quarter of 2025, putting sales for the latest period above their year-earlier level. Net income attributable to the company also rose, reaching $1,920 million in the third quarter of 2026. Net income in the corresponding period of 2025 was about $1,852 million, according to the comparison provided in the company's earnings release. Alongside the year-over-year increases in revenue and net income, customer deposits reached $7.6 billion, a level Carnival described as a third-quarter record.
For the fourth quarter of 2026, Carnival expects net yields to rise about 1.7% from the corresponding quarter a year earlier, according to the outlook in its third-quarter earnings announcement. The company calculates this expected growth on a constant-currency basis, against 2025 levels it described as records. For 2027 bookings, Carnival said booked occupancy levels had reached record highs. It added that prices for those bookings were also at record levels, according to its assessment disclosed with its third-quarter 2026 results. The company summed up its booking position for next year by saying that "booked occupancy levels and prices for 2027 are at record highs."