What is an income statement waterfall?

An income statement waterfall is a bar chart that walks from total revenue down to net income, with each step showing how much a cost or tax line removes (or adds). Subtotals — gross profit, operating income, pre-tax income — are anchored to zero so the cascade reconciles exactly to the bottom line.

How much of Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) revenue becomes net income?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Royal Caribbean Cruises turned $18.4B of revenue into $4.48B of net income — a net margin of 24.4%. The waterfall shows where the rest goes: cost of revenue, operating expenses, non-operating items, and taxes.

What are Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) gross, operating, and net margins?

For TTM through Q1 2026, Royal Caribbean Cruises reported a gross margin of 47.2%, an operating margin of 27.9%, and a net margin of 24.4%. Each subtotal in the waterfall corresponds to one of these margins.

Why does Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) have such a high (or low) gross margin?

Gross margin (gross profit ÷ revenue) reflects how much of each revenue dollar remains after direct production costs. Capital-light software and platform businesses often show gross margins above 60–80% because their cost of revenue is mainly hosting and support. Hardware, retail, and commodity businesses show lower gross margins because raw materials and manufacturing costs are significant. The waterfall makes this visible at a glance — the size of the "Cost of Revenue" bar relative to Revenue is the gross margin complement.

What is the difference between gross, operating, and net margin?

Gross margin = (Revenue − Cost of Revenue) ÷ Revenue. It measures production efficiency. Operating margin = Operating Income ÷ Revenue. It adds operating expenses (R&D, S&M, G&A) and measures the profitability of core operations. Net margin = Net Income ÷ Revenue. It also includes interest, other income/expense, and taxes, and represents the shareholder take after everything.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) Income Statement Waterfall

Revenue

$18.4B

Gross Margin

+47.2%

Operating Margin

+27.9%

Net Margin

+24.4%

Income statement waterfall for Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) — TTM through Q1 2026

Net income: $4.48B

Margin breakdown for Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) — TTM through Q1 2026

Line item	Amount	Running total
Revenue	$18.4B	$18.4B
Cost of Revenue	-$9.7B	$8.68B
Gross Profit	$8.68B	$8.68B
Operating Expenses	-$3.56B	$5.13B
Operating Income	$5.13B	$5.13B
Other Income / Expense	-$583M	$4.54B
Pre-tax Income	$4.54B	$4.54B
Income Tax	-$41M	$4.5B
Net Income	$4.48B	$4.48B

Revenue$18.4B
Cost of Revenue-$9.7B
Gross Profit$8.68B
Operating Expenses-$3.56B
Operating Income$5.13B
Other Income / Expense-$583M
Pre-tax Income$4.54B
Income Tax-$41M
Net Income$4.48B

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