About Jason Liberty
Jason Liberty, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, reported first-quarter 2026 results that exceeded expectations, with revenue growing 11% year-over-year and earnings 11% higher than guidance. He stated that the company returned $1.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. Liberty noted that the company is on track to achieve a 20% compound annual growth rate in adjusted earnings per share through 2027 and a return on invested capital in the high teens. He attributed the performance to strong execution and consumer demand for experiences, adding that the company is seeing consistent engagement from guests and onboard spending well above prior years.
Liberty said that approximately 40% of customers are repeat customers, up from a historical one-third, which he attributed to investments in loyalty programs, AI, and technology. He described the Mediterranean cruise market as doing "a little bit less well than we had anticipated" due to geopolitical events, but characterized this as a one-time situation. He also cited fuel costs as the most notable financial impact from the Middle East conflict, noting that the company is approximately 60% hedged for 2026 but expects fuel prices to increase costs by roughly 62 cents per share. Liberty said the company is focused on building a vacation platform through innovative ships, exclusive destinations, and technology to win more share of the $2 trillion vacation market.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Jason Liberty's recent appearances.
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✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Interviewer0:00
People were surprised to see the CDC with that new travel guidance in late December, advising Americans not to take a cruise. Now that COVID cases are on the decline here in the U.S., do you expect the CDC to update that travel advisory? What are you hearing?
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Jason Liberty0:15
Sure, well, I can't really comment for the CDC, but I think our expectations are that that travel advisory will change here in short order, just based off of the prevalence of the disease in society and how well we and the industry have continued to operate during moments like this.
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Interviewer0:34
At the age of 45, Jason, you are now the youngest CEO of a major cruise line. What do you hope to change as CEO of Royal Caribbean, whether it's the way you're selling cruising to the younger customer or the type of new ships you bring to sea? We know Richard left one of his biggest marks on the street was bringing these mega ships to sea, 6,000 people or more on one ship.
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Jason Liberty0:59
Well, thank you for making me a year younger. I am 46. Hopefully I'm still the youngest by my account. First off, I think it's important: Richard built an incredible company. His legacy is incredible, and a lot of our values, our culture, the incredible ships we've built, the incredible brands we have, are very much based off of all of his efforts over the past 33 years. So I'm very fortunate to not only inherit the best job in the world but also to be able to have those building blocks for the future. For us, we're very focused on getting our financials back to pre-COVID levels, and the fog has really cleared around that. Also a lot of focus on continuing our path around ESG and being a very responsible organization.
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Interviewer1:48
On that journey, the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that scrubbed a SpaceX launch. What is the latest there in that investigation, Jason?
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Jason Liberty1:57
Yeah, well, the latest that I know is that there's an investigation going on by the Coast Guard, which is not something I can really comment on. But we certainly try our best to operate in compliance with everything we do. So let's wait until we see how that investigation goes, and then we can conclude on anything that we need to change going forward.
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Interviewer2:17
Got it. Maybe your ships are just getting too big, but we'll wait for the latest on that investigation. Jason, thanks for joining us, your first interview as CEO. We appreciate it. Jason Liberty, all right, thank you. CEO of Royal Caribbean. Sema, Mr. Liberty, thank you very much. We appreciate it. 90 minutes left in the trading day and the week. Let's get you caught up on the market, shall we? Stocks, bonds, commodities. Let's start with the markets of stocks. Stocks trading near their best levels of the day after a volatile morning. Major averages on track for solid gains despite the big tech sell-off yesterday. Yields jumping after that stronger than expected report. The 10-year yield getting above 1.9 percent. It was 1.92, there it is, 1.927, almost 1.923. Highest level now since January of 2020. You can see the spike in that chart right at 8:30 Eastern time. You know what happened then? That was when the jobs report came out stronger than expected. Energy sector continues to dominate, up more than 5 percent this week. Oil closing for the day and the week at new seven-year highs today. And Pippa Stevens is all over it. Hi, Pippa.
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Pippa Stevens3:20
Hey, Tyler. A big week for oil with WTI topping 90. This is the seventh straight week of gains, and oil is now up more than 20 for the year. So a quick recap of how we got here: demand has rebounded while supply has remained tight, inventory is depleted, and there's dwindling spare capacity. Then add in geopolitical tensions, and prices will respond. OPEC and its allies said this week they're going to continue boosting output, but they can't necessarily ramp up enough. So that begs the question of whether U.S. shale will pick up the slack. U.S. oil is up 2.1 at 92.22. Brent crude up two and a third percent at 93 dollars and 24 cents. Now, higher oil is pushing up gas prices, and the national average for a gallon is at the highest level since September of 2014 today, but just barely. It currently stands at 3.423, just above the November high of 3.422. President Biden said this morning that his administration is working to bring down prices, but about 14 percent above where they were in November when we had that SPR release.
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Interviewer4:29
Yeah, already the highest price at the pump since 2014 and marching upwards. Pippa, thanks. Apartment REITs report and they all beat, but the stocks are mixed. What's causing the disconnect? We will break it down next.
