Six Flags vs. Royal Caribbean: Which Leisure Stock Looks More Compelling for the Next Decade?

6 days ago 6

Rick Munarriz, The Motley Fool

Mon, January 12, 2026 astatine 9:20 AM CST 4 min read

Royal Caribbean banal has soared 37% implicit the past year, starring the large cruise lines.
Six Flags banal has fallen 66% implicit the past year, the laggard among amusement and taxable parkland operators.
Six Flags is worthy little than what either Six Flags oregon Cedar Fair was worthy astatine the clip of their merger successful the summertime of 2024, but it doesn't marque it inexpensive oregon the amended play for semipermanent investors.
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One attack to succeeding arsenic an capitalist successful consumer-facing companies is to travel the fun. If folks are having a bully clip with a company's product, it bodes good for the sustainability and maturation of that business. Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) entertains millions of passengers connected multi-day sailings each year. Tens of millions of guests spell done the turnstiles of Six Flags' (NYSE: FUN) gated attractions implicit the people of a year.

There is nary shortage of laughter, lively conversations, and whimsical shrieks of delight connected cruise ships and astatine amusement parks. However, volition the aforesaid giddiness transportation implicit to shareholders of Royal Caribbean oregon Six Flags? Let's interruption each concern down to spot which 1 has momentum and which 1 is inactive a enactment successful progress.

Royal Caribbean is the country's largest cruise enactment by marketplace cap, but the metallic medalist for gross and wide fleet capacity. There is simply a bully crushed for that. Royal Caribbean shares person much than quadrupled implicit the past 5 years, starring the manufacture successful gross maturation and profitability margins.

It was the archetypal of the 3 large cruise lines to crook profitable. Royal Caribbean got determination connected a quarterly ground successful the seasonally potent 3rd 4th of 2022, achieving full-year profitability a twelvemonth later. In 2024, it became the archetypal cruise enactment to resume paying dividends, having suspended them successful the aftermath of the COVID-19 situation 4 years earlier.

There is wide bullish momentum for the industry, but Royal Caribbean is the 1 wrapping up its 3rd consecutive twelvemonth of grounds gross and operating profits. The cruise vessel relation disappointed investors with a 5% summation successful gross for its latest quarter, but the outlook is kind. Analysts spot gross maturation accelerating, rising 9% successful 2026 connected a double-digit summation successful nett income. With a guardant net aggregate successful the precocious teens, the marketplace person is attractively priced. It has besides hiked its dividend 3 times since restarting the distributions successful precocious 2024.

It's been a acold bumpier thrust for Six Flags shareholders. The banal has shed two-thirds of its worth implicit the past year. The operation of Six Flags and Cedar Fair closed 18 months ago, but the promised synergies person yet to materialize.