Mizuho has upgraded Viking Holdings (NYSE: VIK) to Outperform from Underperform, raising its price target to $120 from $82. The cruise operator, which runs river, ocean and expedition ships, was moved up two notches in a note first reported on Sunday, with analyst Ben Chaiken behind the call.
Viking closed Friday at $89.87, so the new target sits about 33.5% above the last price and above the 52-week high of $110.09. The shares are about 18% below that peak, set on the 5th of August, and the market has been shut since Friday, so there is no trading reaction to the upgrade yet.
Investing.com reported that Mizuho sees the shares’ six-month lag behind larger rivals Royal Caribbean and Carnival as transitory, meaning temporary. The cause is largely low river levels in Europe, which can disrupt or cancel sailings.
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Mizuho said the worries behind its old Underperform rating, which were one-sided bullish sentiment, limited upside to numbers and a stretched valuation, have all normalised. It still expects a material hit to 2027 and 2028, with 2029 the payoff once that is absorbed.
significant upside to numbers
Mizuho
Market data bears out the lag. Since mid-May, Viking is up 7.4%, against 24.2% for Royal Caribbean and 18.6% for Carnival, measured on weekly closes to Friday without adjustment.
Viking Holdings has underperformed larger rivals Royal Caribbean and Carnival since May 2026. Unadjusted closes rebased to 100 on 15 May.
Other brokers are already positive. UBS has a Buy rating with a $121 target and Stifel a Buy with $115, while Barclays has upgraded to Overweight with $102. The average analyst target is $108.32, so Mizuho’s $120 sits above it.
The first test comes on Tuesday, when Viking reports third-quarter results before the US open, with a call at 8:00am ET (1pm in the UK). Consensus expects earnings of $1.23 a share, against $1.20 a year earlier, on revenue of about $2.18bn. Stifel is expecting guidance on river water levels.
