NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Carnival Corp. (CCL) - Get Report are down 1.17% to $44.87 in afternoon trading today ahead of the company's fiscal first quarter 2015 results expected Friday before the opening bell.

The consensus estimate calls for the Miami-based cruise company to report earnings of 10 cents a share on revenue of $3.57 billion.

In the fiscal first quarter of last year, the company broke even on earnings, which beat the consensus estimate for a loss of 8 cents a share, according to analysts polled by Reuters. Revenue totaled $3.59 billion, just above analysts' estimates of $3.56 billion.

In the fourth quarter of 2014, Carnival's earnings of 27 cents a share beat estimates of 20 cents. Revenue totaled $3.72 billion, below estimates of $3.81 billion.

Separately, "Carnival's large-scale operations allow it to exploit global growth opportunities faster. The company's expansion in the emerging markets of Asia, like China and Australia, which is gaining popularity as a tourist destination, is also encouraging. In our view, the Asia Pacific region is an attractive bet for Carnival because of the stable economy and growing affluent middle class," Zacks Equity Research said.

However, Zacks remains concerned about the company's high expenses. Although the company is taking steps to lower operating costs and reduce fuel consumption, higher fuel cost is expected to be a drag on earnings in the to-be-reported quarter, Zacks noted.

This is primarily due to the regulation that ships operating within 200 nautical miles of the mainland U.S., Canada (except Aleutian Islands) and Hawaii will be required to use fuel containing no more than 0.1% sulfur, Zacks added.

The average recommendation of 18 brokers' estimates on the stock is 2.5, with a 2 representing an "outperform" rating and 3 a "hold," according to Reuters. The mean price target is $53.28.

TheStreet Ratings team rates CARNIVAL CORP/PLC (USA) as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate CARNIVAL CORP/PLC (USA) (CCL) a BUY. This is driven by several positive factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, reasonable valuation levels, good cash flow from operations, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income." You can view the full analysis from the report here: CCL Ratings Report

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