Luxury Cruise Stocks Surge 6%... Institutions Accumulate 5% Stake

Viking Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: VIK), a luxury cruise operator, closed at $72.38 on the New York Stock Exchange on March 31, up 5.74%. Trading volume exceeded 1.52 million shares, and its market capitalization rose by roughly $1.4 billion to about $23 billion (approximately KRW 31 trillion) in a single day.

In its earnings report issued earlier this month, Viking posted revenue of $1 billion and earnings per share of $0.67, both above analysts’ estimates. In January, the company also entered a multi-year marketing partnership with the PGA Tour to extend its brand reach to high-income golf fans in North America. Additionally, a regulatory filing earlier this year showed that Capital Research Global Investors holds about a 5.5% stake in Viking, confirming strong demand from large institutional investors betting on the company’s long-term growth story.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and Los Angeles, Viking Holdings is a premium travel company operating river, ocean and expedition cruises. It is widely regarded as a market leader in European river cruises originating from North America. Founded by Torstein Hagen in 1997 as a river cruise line, the company has since expanded into ocean and expedition cruising and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2024.