Viking: Well-placed to mitigate low European river levels

Research evidence excerpt

Viking: Well-placed to mitigate low European river levels

3 August 2026

Richard J. Clarke, FCA

+44 20 7676 6850

Global Hotels & Leisure richard.clarke@bernsteinsg.com

Viking Holdings Niall Mitchelson

+44 20 7676 7144

Rating niall.mitchelson@bernsteinsg.com

Outperform Lasith Siriwardana

Price Target +44 20 7550 2191

lasith.siriwardana@bernsteinsg.com

VIK 120.00 USD

Severe heatwaves across Europe have resulted in temperature records being broken across

Close Date 31 Jul 2026

the continent this summer. The prolonged nature of the heatwaves have resulted in low water

VIK Close Price (USD) 104.35

levels across European waterways, including key cruise markets such as the Danube and

Price Target (USD) 120.00

Rhine - and has led to some investor questions about impact on Q2/3 outlook.

Upside/(Downside) 15%

Viking cruises have been affected by the low water levels. The Viking Ullur ran aground 52-Week Range 105.86/55.55

in Bulgaria ~25km upstream from the Vidin port on the 28th July. The 186 passengers SPX 7,489.72

aboard were evacuated and continued on a land based excursion to Budapest where their FYE Dec

itinerary ended. Guests booked onto the next sailing were provided a land-based itinerary Div Yield NA

and future cruise vouchers. The Ullur no longer looks to be stranded on AIS tracking (link). Market Cap (USD) (M) 46,556

Other operators, including Avalon, AmaWaterways and Uniworld, have also had to manage EV (USD) (M) 48,339

low water levels this summer; Avalon canceled three Danube itineraries in July (link) Performance YTD 1M 6M 12M

Absolute (%) 46.1 3.6 41.4 81.3

Operators can manage low water levels by arranging substitute land-based itineraries which SPX (%) 9.4 (0.1) 7.9 18.1

involve coach transfers and hotel stays / staying aboard the docked ship.