Viking Holdings Ltd. is banking on affluent customers to see it through this period of jitters in the travel industry.
While the current market downturn will impact even the wealthiest people, Viking’s customers are “not starving and they’re not having jobs that they’re losing,” Chief Executive Officer Torstein Hagen said on a call with analysts after reporting fourth-quarter sales and earnings that beat analyst expectations.
Travel stocks slumped today after American Airlines Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. warned of a sharp pullback in consumer spending. Viking shares were dragged down in the broader selloff, falling as much as 10%, the most since the river cruise operator began trading last year.
“Although the fears around the consumer are rampant through the market, Viking to date is not seeing those concerns manifest in any meaningful way on bookings,” Melius Research analyst Conor Cunningham wrote in a note.
Viking’s fourth-quarter results back up the sentiment that demand for its cruises is holding up, with Hagen noting that the average spending per day for a Viking river cruise is $839.
“Bookings continue to break records,” Chief Financial Officer Leah Talactac said in a statement. The company recorded its best-ever revenue generating day in January, helping push its advanced booking levels 26% above 2024 at the same point.
The pace of ticket sales did slow slightly last month relative to January, Talactac said during the call, though comparable bookings for 2026 are ahead for both price and volume than they were last year.
To keep up with demand, the Bermuda-based company said it expects to add an ocean ship and 10 more river vessels this year, boosting its operating capacity by 12%.
