shares of royal caribbean group rcl hiked up 38 in premarket trading thursday after the cruise operator reported a secondquarter loss that was less than half of last years and less than expected and strong book volume but provided a downbeat profit outlook for the third quarter amid rising fuel costs the net loss narrowed to 5216 million or 205 a share from 135 billion or 529 a share in the yearago period excluding nonrecurring items the adjusted pershare loss of 208 beat the factset loss consensus of 220 revenue soared about 43fold to 218 billion from 509 million and topped the factset consensus of 211 billion bookings volumes averaged 30 above corresponding levels in prepandemic 2019 with even greater strength in july for the third quarter the company expects adjusted earnings per share of 5 cents to 25 cents which is below the current factset consensus of 82 cents the fuel expense for the quarter is expected to be 319 million up from 2752 million in the second quarter with average pricing rising to 794 per metric ton from 721 per metric ton in the second quarter the stock has plunged 567 over the past three months through wednesday while the sp 500 spx has eased 62