Cruise and exploration company Lindblad Expeditions (NASDAQ: LIND) beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations in Q3 CY2025, with sales up 16.6% year on year to $240.2 million. The company’s full-year revenue guidance of $752.5 million at the midpoint came in 1.1% above analysts’ estimates. Its GAAP loss of $0 per share was significantly below analysts’ consensus estimates.
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Lindblad Expeditions (LIND) Q3 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $240.2 million vs analyst estimates of $229.7 million (16.6% year-on-year growth, 4.6% beat)
- EPS (GAAP): $0 vs analyst estimates of $0.24 (significant miss)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $57.26 million vs analyst estimates of $46.78 million (23.8% margin, 22.4% beat)
- The company lifted its revenue guidance for the full year to $752.5 million at the midpoint from $737.5 million, a 2% increase
- EBITDA guidance for the full year is $121 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $113.1 million
- Operating Margin: 15%, in line with the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 5%, down from 8.9% in the same quarter last year
- Market Capitalization: $668.4 million
Natalya Leahy, Chief Executive Officer, said, "Our latest quarter is a testament to our great team and disciplined focus on strategic priorities and unforgettable guest experiences. Both our land and marine segments grew strongly with overall corporate revenue up 17% and a new record level of adjusted EBITDA while achieving highest ever measured guest satisfaction scores. Finally, the excellent work done to strengthen our balance sheet positions us for durable and profitable growth well into 2030."
Company Overview
Founded by explorer Sven-Olof Lindblad in 1979, Lindblad Expeditions (NASDAQ: LIND) offers cruising experiences to remote destinations in partnership with National Geographic.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term performance is an indicator of its overall quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. Thankfully, Lindblad Expeditions’s 36.1% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was incredible. Its growth beat the average consumer discretionary company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within consumer discretionary, a stretched historical view may miss a company riding a successful new property or trend. Lindblad Expeditions’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed significantly as its annualized revenue growth of 14.5% over the last two years was well below its five-year trend. 
This quarter, Lindblad Expeditions reported year-on-year revenue growth of 16.6%, and its $240.2 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 4.6%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 7.9% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. This projection is underwhelming and suggests its products and services will face some demand challenges.
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Operating Margin
Operating margin is a key measure of profitability. Think of it as net income - the bottom line - excluding the impact of taxes and interest on debt, which are less connected to business fundamentals.
Lindblad Expeditions’s operating margin has been trending up over the last 12 months and averaged 4.8% over the last two years. The company’s higher efficiency is a breath of fresh air, but its suboptimal cost structure means it still sports lousy profitability for a consumer discretionary business.
This quarter, Lindblad Expeditions generated an operating margin profit margin of 15%, in line with the same quarter last year. This indicates the company’s overall cost structure has been relatively stable.
Earnings Per Share
Revenue trends explain a company’s historical growth, but the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) points to the profitability of that growth – for example, a company could inflate its sales through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.
Although Lindblad Expeditions’s full-year earnings are still negative, it reduced its losses and improved its EPS by 14.3% annually over the last five years. The next few quarters will be critical for assessing its long-term profitability.
In Q3, Lindblad Expeditions reported EPS of $0, down from $0.36 in the same quarter last year. This print missed analysts’ estimates. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street is optimistic. Analysts forecast Lindblad Expeditions’s full-year EPS of negative $0.66 will flip to positive $0.03.
Key Takeaways from Lindblad Expeditions’s Q3 Results
We enjoyed seeing Lindblad Expeditions beat analysts’ revenue and EBITDA expectations this quarter. Looking ahead, full-year revenue guidance was raised. We were also glad its full-year EBITDA guidance exceeded Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, we think this was a solid quarter with some key areas of upside. The stock traded up 5% to $12.80 immediately following the results.
Lindblad Expeditions had an encouraging quarter, but one earnings result doesn’t necessarily make the stock a buy. Let’s see if this is a good investment. What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.
