Earnings Preview: Carnival Corp.

Last month, Carnival said those itinerary changes will reduce the company's second-quarter earnings about 5 cents per share. Carnival said the hit could increase to 10 cents per share for the full fiscal year.

The company earlier forecast second-quarter earnings of 29 cents to 31 cents per share, and fiscal 2009 profit of $2.04 to $2.24 per share.

More recently, Carnival was forced to divert one of its ships to an Australian port after some crew members and passengers were diagnosed with swine flu.

BY THE NUMBERS: Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of 29 cents per share on revenue of $2.99 billion.

ANALYST TAKE: Deutsche Bank analyst Simon Champion said investors will focus on whether Carnival can maintain its full-year earnings guidance, given rising fuel costs, the impact of swine flu and weak cruise pricing.

"We do not as yet see a material pick up in cruise pricing in our pricing surveys despite more positive sentiment generally towards the U.S. economic outlook," Champion said.

WHAT'S AHEAD: Consumer sentiment, oil prices and swine flu are expected to remain wild cards for the near future. UBS Investment Research analyst Robin Farley noted that Carnival has reserved its right to reinstate fuel surcharges if crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange exceed $70 a barrel.