If you think that it's too late to hop on one of this year's bigger gainers, you may want to see some of the faces boarding Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) shares with you. A lot of Wall Street pros are either warming up to the world's largest cruise line stock or starting to feel more bullish despite this year's heady upticks.

The stock is up 82% so far in 2023. It probably helps that the stock peaked with a 143% year-to-date gain over the summer, so there is a real sense of opportunity here after the recent pullback. It's turning into a dinner bell for analysts. The siren song of a lavish midnight buffet at a relative discount may prove tempting for individual investors, too.

Thursday's analyst news finds Susquehanna putting out an encouraging note, combatting fears that leisure demand in general may be slowing. The analyst notes that Carnival and its cruising peers are still seeing healthy fares. There may be some pockets of weakness in other areas of the leisure travel market including theme park operators and low-cost airlines, but the longer booking curve for watery escapes bodes well for Carnival for now. Susquehanna is sticking to its bullish rating on the stock with a $17 price target.

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Source Fool.com