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Viking Holdings (VIK) just logged its highest quarterly Adjusted EBITDA on record, supported by strong advanced bookings and high utilization for 2025 and 2026. This performance puts its ROI focused growth strategy firmly in the spotlight.

See our latest analysis for Viking Holdings.

The market has taken notice of this momentum, with a roughly 54 percent year to date share price return and a 1 year total shareholder return of about 47 percent reinforcing the idea that confidence in Viking’s growth story is building rather than fading.

If Viking’s performance has you rethinking where growth could come from next, it might be worth exploring fast growing stocks with high insider ownership as another way to spot under the radar opportunities.

With the shares now hovering just below analyst targets and trading at a premium to some valuation models, the key question is whether Viking is still mispriced, presenting a buying opportunity, or if the market is already discounting its next leg of growth.

With the narrative fair value sitting just above Viking Holdings’ last close, the story hinges on whether today’s premium can power tomorrow’s earnings.

Consistent investment in standardized, modern, and energy-efficient fleet across ocean and river segments enables tight operational control, better shipyard pricing, and scalable cost efficiencies that are expected to support ongoing margin expansion and improved long-term profitability.

Read the complete narrative.

Want to see what kind of revenue engine and margin climb could justify this near premium pricing? The narrative leans on ambitious growth, disciplined profitability, and a future earnings multiple that might surprise you. Curious how those moving parts combine into a fair value just ahead of today’s price? Read on to unpack the full blueprint behind this call.

Result: Fair Value of $68.32 (ABOUT RIGHT)

Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what’s behind the forecasts.

However, this outlook could be challenged if stricter environmental rules or sustained cost inflation squeeze margins faster than Viking’s efficiency gains can offset them.

Find out about the key risks to this Viking Holdings narrative.

Step away from narratives and the numbers look less forgiving. On a price to earnings basis, Viking trades around 32 times earnings, well above the US Hospitality average of 21.2 times and its own 37.1 times fair ratio anchor, leaving less room for error if growth stumbles.

See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown.

If this perspective does not fully align with your own or you prefer digging into the numbers yourself, you can build a custom thesis in minutes: Do it your way.

A great starting point for your Viking Holdings research is our analysis highlighting 2 key rewards and 1 important warning sign that could impact your investment decision.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Companies discussed in this article include VIK.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com

Strong investment in energy infrastructure drove a 2.2% rise in energy jobs last year, nearly double the rate of employment growth for the wider global economy, according to a new IEA report, which highlights the dynamic trends across the sector as well as bottlenecks for skilled labour in key areas.

The World Energy Employment 2025 report released today finds that global energy sector employment reached 76 million people worldwide in 2024, up more than 5 million from 2019. The sector has contributed 2.4% of all net jobs created across the global economy over the past five years.

The power sector is leading the way on job creation, accounting for three-quarters of recent employment growth, and is now the largest employer in energy, overtaking fuel supply. Solar PV is a key driver of growth, complemented by rapid expansions in hiring in nuclear power, grids and storage. Increasing electrification of other sectors of the economy is also reshaping employment trends, with jobs in EV manufacturing and batteries surging by nearly 800,000 in 2024.

Fossil fuel employment remained resilient in 2024. Coal jobs rebounded in India, China and Indonesia, pushing employment in the coal industry 8% above its 2019 levels despite steep declines in advanced economies. The oil and gas industry has also regained most of the jobs lost in 2020, although low prices and economic uncertainties have triggered job cuts in 2025. Based on early data, energy employment growth is expected to moderate to 1.3% in 2025, reflecting persistently tight labour markets and heightened trade and geopolitical tensions that are making some firms more cautious about hiring.

Despite the strong recent performance of the overall energy sector, the report warns of deepening skilled labour shortages. Out of 700 energy-related companies, unions and training institutions participating in the IEA’s Energy Employment Survey, more than half of them reported critical hiring bottlenecks that threaten to slow the building of energy infrastructure, delay projects and raise system costs.

“Energy has been one of the strongest and most consistent engines of job creation in the global economy during a period marked by significant uncertainties,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “But this momentum cannot be taken for granted. The world’s ability to build the energy infrastructure it needs depends on having enough skilled workers in place. Governments, industry and training institutions must come together to close the labour and skills gap. Left unaddressed, these shortages could slow progress, raise costs and weaken energy security.”

Applied technical roles such as electricians, pipefitters, line workers, plant operators and nuclear engineers are in especially short supply. These occupations alone have added 2.5 million positions since 2019 and now represent over half of the entire global energy workforce, more than double their share of total employment in the broader economy.

An ageing workforce is intensifying the pressure, with 2.4 energy workers in advanced economies nearing retirement for every new entrant under 25. Nuclear- and grid-related professions face some of the steepest demographic challenges, with retirements outnumbering new entrants by ratios of 1.7 and 1.4 to 1 respectively.

At the same time, the supply of newly qualified workers is not keeping pace with the sector’s needs. To prevent the skills gap from widening further by 2030, the number of new qualified entrants into the energy sector globally would need to rise by 40%. The report shows that this would require an additional $2.6 billion per year of investment globally, representing less than 0.1% of spending on education worldwide.

Policy measures can make a major difference. According to the IEA’s Energy Employment Survey, the main barriers preventing people from entering energy-related training include costs, foregone wages and limited awareness of available programmes. Effective policy tools include targeted financial incentives for learners, expanded apprenticeships, greater private-sector involvement in curriculum design, and investment in training facilities. Reskilling within the energy sector itself is also essential. Some regions already face declines in fossil fuel employment, but targeted retraining could help workers transfer into other parts of the energy system that are growing.