On Wednesday, Citigroup analyst James Hardiman upgraded the entire cruise sector, while raising the firm's price targets on all three names. The analyst raised the price target on Carnival from $25 to $28, Royal Caribbean from $204 to $253, and Norwegian from $20 to $30.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings ($NCLH), the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passenger capacity, is now performing full steam ahead

Norwegian Cruise Line ( NCLH) +10.5% Carnival ( CCL) +7.7% Super Micro Computer ( SMCI) +5.8% Amentum Holdings AMTM +5.8% Royal Caribbean ( RCL) +4.8% The worst-performing five S&P 500 stocks with the largest midday drop are: Constellation Energy ( CEG) -7.

Key Takeaways Major U.S. indexes were higher at midday Wednesday ahead of the release of the minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting, when policymakers slashed interest rates.Cruise stocks got a lift as Citi analysts said the industry could continue to rally through next year.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) sees a surge in stock price after Citi upgrades to Buy rating, citing earnings potential and growth prospects.