Resumed, covered on current cash flow, and still carrying cruise debt. Carnival suspended the dividend in April 2020 and resumed it in fiscal 2026 at $0.15 a quarter, declaring $0.15 in each of the first three quarters and paying $618 million in the nine months to August 31, 2026. The annualized $0.60 is about 26% of trailing free cash flow of about $3,176 million, a pass. Leverage is the caution: net debt of $25,375 million at August 31, 2026 is about 5.3x fiscal 2025 GAAP EBITDA of $4,746 million, in the fail band, and under the filter it grades warn rather than failing on its own while coverage passes.
Key risk: A demand shock hits a balance sheet carrying over $25 billion of net debt before it threatens the $0.15 rate — the dividend is the junior claim here.
Changes if: Net debt/EBITDA falls below 4x with a full year of $0.15 payments, or the free-cash-flow payout crosses 60%.
- ✓Cash-flow cover About 26% of trailing free cash flow, pass (<60%), on the resumed $0.60 rate.
- !Leverage About 5.3x on FY2025 GAAP EBITDA, fail band (>4x) — a caution, not a fail, while coverage passes; deleveraging is the swing factor.
- !Growth record Suspended April 2020, resumed 2026 at $0.15 — resumed-payer caution; the suspension is over 5 years ago, so not a fail, but there is no raise record yet.
- ✓Trap screen Yield 1.60%, payout under 100%, no recent cut; not a trap pattern.
What this grade doesn't say: It screens the dividend only — covered, real, compounding. It says nothing about valuation or price: a well-covered payer can still be overpriced, and its price can still fall.