Carnival and General Mills have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day
Chicago, IL – July 22, 2025 – Zacks Equity Research shares Carnival Corp. CCL as the Bull of the Day and General Mills Inc. GIS as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on PayPal Holdings PYPL, Block, Inc. XYZ and Coinbase Global COIN.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks.
Bull of the Day:
Founded in 1972 and headquartered in Miami, Florida, Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock Carnival Corp. operates a cruise and vacation company. Carnival and its affiliates operate the largest and most profitable cruise operator in the world, responsible for carrying nearly half of the global cruise guests. CCL operates in North America, Australia, Europe, and Asia under brands, like AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises, and Seabourn. The company's diverse array of services accommodates vacation guests of various ages, backgrounds, and interests.
Carnival Cruises Sees Record Bookings in 2025, Expects Strong 2026
Because Carnival has the strongest brand recognition in the Cruise industry and a market-leading position, it can generate a cost advantage and a higher return on investment than its smaller competitors. In addition, thanks to the combination of improved operational execution across its brands and robust consumer travel demand, the company is recording record-setting bookings in 2025. Zacks Consensus Analyst Estimates suggest that CCL will grow 2025 earnings per share by a strong 39.44%.
Meanwhile, bookings for 2026 are tracking in line with the record levels seen this year. Beyond these record bookings, Carnival is charging its highest prices ever, and the company has expanded its booking window further than ever, providing deeper visibility into the future and setting the company up for sustained long-term growth potential.
CCL Blows Away Analyst Expectations
Savvy investors understand that Wall Street is a game of expectations. Though CCL has been producing robust earnings for several quarters, Wall Street analysts have yet to catch on. For instance, CCL has delivered positive EPS surprises in eleven consecutive quarters and has beaten expectations by an average of 169.85% over the past four.
CCL Marketing Campaigns & Fleet Expansion
Carnival's strategic investment in marketing is yielding significant returns. Over the past five years, website searches to Carnival's website spiked 60%, helping to attract new and returning guests and maintain market share gains. Meanwhile, Carnival is using its cash hoard to expand its destination footprint worldwide.
Cruise Industry Firing on All Cylinders
On Wall Street, 'birds of a feather, flock together.' The cruise line industry remains strong, as evidenced by the strong performance by competitors like Viking HoldingsandRoyal Caribbean Group.
CCL: Relative Strength and Technical Breakout
CCL shares exhibit relative strength, up 21% in 2025, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 Index. Currently, CCL is breaking out of a five-month base structure – a bullish omen.
Bottom Line
With record bookings extending into 2026, consistent outperformance of analysts' expectations, and a proactive approach to fleet expansion and destination development, CCL is well-positioned for long-term growth.
Bear of the Day:
Based in Minneapolis, MN, Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) stock General Mills Inc. is one of the largest food producers worldwide, selling its products through supermarkets and retail stores. Its principal product categories include ready-to-eat cereals, convenient meals, and snacks (including grain, fruit, savory snacks, nutrition bars, and frozen foods). Additionally, the company sells ice cream and baking mix ingredients. GIS has also entered the pet food market with its 2018 acquisition of Blue Buffalo and its acquisition of Tyson Foods'pet treat business in 2021.
MAHA Movement May Pressure General Mills
The 'Mahe America Healthy Again' (MAHA) movement, spearheaded by US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., could have a significant impact on General Mills' business. Kennedy has long been a proponent of raising awareness about ultra-processed foods (like those produced by General Mills) and eliminating artificial dyes. Thus far, the primary impact of the MAHA campaign on GIS is that the company has committed to removing all artificial dyes from its US product lines by 2027.
However, the commitment will require more than simply removing artificial dyes. If General Mills wants to keep its customer base, it will need to spend millions in research and development efforts to discover natural replacements that mimic the color, taste, and texture of its popular products like 'Lucky Charms' cereal. Meanwhile, Kennedy has not yet fully focused crosshairs on ultra-processed foods. Government pressure on this front could lead to more costs in the future for GIS. Either way, the movement is already raising awareness about the danger of these foods and influencing US citizens to eat healthier.
GIS Demand Stagnates
In addition to the many consumers making healthier choices, General Mills is battling prolonged value-seeking consumer behaviors. Both earnings and net sales declined year-over-year for General Mills, as more consumers opted for less expensive private-label brands. To make matters worse, Zacks Consensus Analyst Estimates suggest that earnings growth is likely remain negative through 2026, and remain stagnant into 2027.
General Mills Faces Stiff Competition
Beyond the consumer changes and uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, GIS faces stiff competition from food brands like Kraft Heinz, Conagra Brandsand Mondelez International.
GIS: Poor Stock Performance
Slow-growth, packaged food companies like General Mills are optimal as safe-haven stocks. However, with the US stock market in a robust bull market, GIS is dramatically underperforming the S&P 500 Index and is likely to continue to do so into the future.
Bottom Line
General Mills faces intense headwinds from evolving consumer preferences amid the 'Make America Healthy Again Movement.' To regain momentum, GIS will need to spend millions in R&D to adapt its product portfolio.
Additional content:
PayPal Holdings has steadily deepened its crypto involvement since 2020, now offering major tokens and stablecoin services. In April 2025, it added Chainlink (LINK) and Solana (SOL) to its PayPal and Venmo platforms, broadening user access to diverse blockchain ecosystems. This expansion reinforces its strategy to become a go-to gateway for tokenized finance.
Central to PayPal's crypto ambition is PayPal USD ('PYUSD'), launched in August 2023. Recently, PayPal announced that it is expanding PYUSD to Layer-2 blockchains, beginning with Arbitrum. This deployment offers developers a low-cost, high-speed option for PYUSD integration, pairing the stablecoin's trusted backing with Arbitrum's efficient transaction capabilities.
In June, PayPal announced plans to expand its stablecoin, PYUSD, to the Stellar blockchain, pending approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services. Stellar is recognized for enabling fast transactions, minimal fees and practical applications in everyday financial use. This move would enhance PYUSD's payment capabilities by offering a cost-efficient, fast alternative to Ethereum and Solana, enabling broader use in commerce, micro-financing, and global transactions through improved integration and scalability.
A strategic tie up with Coinbase in April 2025 allows fee-free PYUSD purchases, 1:1 redemption, and co-exploration of new use cases for PYUSD in DeFi and onchain platforms. This alliance brings PYUSD directly into the exchange ecosystem, enhancing consumer, merchant and institutional adoption, especially as Coinbase waives fees. Earlier, PayPal also rolled out crypto for business accounts, enabling merchants to buy, hold, sell and transfer crypto assets directly via the platform.
How Are Block and Coinbase Global Expanding in This Space?
Block, Inc. is set to join the S&P 500, marking another milestone in crypto's push into the financial mainstream. Block has integrated Bitcoin through its Cash App, enabling peer to peer transactions and investing. It invested heavily in BTC treasury holdings and rolled out Bitcoin lending pilot programs. Its Square Crypto initiative focuses on Bitcoin developer grants and Lightning Network adoption to boost Bitcoin's payment utility.
Coinbase Global, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, offers trading, staking, custodial services and launched its Payments platform, including stablecoin support. It waived fees for PYUSD, expanded institutional services and invests in Layer 2 scaling (like Base) to bolster real world crypto use.
PYPL's Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of PayPal have declined 13.1% year to date, underperforming both the broader industry as well as the S&P 500 Index.
From a valuation standpoint, PayPal shares are trading cheap, as suggested by the Value Score of A. In terms of forward 12-month P/E, PYPL stock is trading at 13.70X compared with the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry's 21.96X.
PayPal's estimate revisions reflect a positive trend. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter and full-year 2025 and full-year 2026 EPS has been revised upward over the past week. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 EPS suggests 9.46% growth year over year, while the same for 2026 calls for 11.46% growth year over year.
At present, PayPal carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss.This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index.Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.
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Carnival Corporation (CCL): Free Stock Analysis Report
General Mills, Inc. (GIS): Free Stock Analysis Report
PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN): Free Stock Analysis Report
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