Dock This Cruise Stock Next Month, Says Signal

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE:NCLH) stock is up 3.3% to trade at $18.38 at last glance, the cruise name getting a halo lift from Royal Caribbean's (RCL) stellar earnings report. Despite today's pop, NCLH is entering a historically bearish month and is staring down its own quarterly report before the open Monday, May 4.

Per Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, NCLH is one of the 25 worst-performing stocks on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) during May, in the last 10 years. Per the table below, the stock averaged a 3% loss in May over the last decade, with a 70% monthly loss rate. That's the fourth-worst performance on the list.

A move lower of similar magnitude would have the shares trading at their lowest level of the year, near a double bottom at $17.50. The equity is down 18% already in 2026.

Norwegian stock also has a rather lackluster history of post-earnings reactions. Going back two years, shares have finished lower six times after the last eight reports, including a 10.5% bear gap in March. The options market is pricing in a 10.7% move -- regardless of direction -- for Tuesday's trading, much larger than the average move of 8.8% in the last two years.

Options traders have been much bullish than usual. The stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 5.20 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks higher than 88% of all other annual readings.