# How Viking (VIK) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/vik
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on VIK alone. It places VIK (Viking Holdings Ltd) against 9 popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where VIK stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: VIK's full trading record, from May 2024 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** VIK has gone against the market, falling 10.0% over the past 3 months while the S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Not every peer went the same way. Over the past 3 months, LIND (Lindblad Expeditions) rose 28.4% and NCLH (Norwegian Cruise Line) fell 19.7%.
- **Stock or market?:** The weakness is VIK's own: it fell 10.0% over the past 3 months while the cruise lines ETF PEJ (Invesco Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment ETF) rose 1.1%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its cruise line peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: LIND (Lindblad Expeditions) rose 28.4%, while NCLH (Norwegian Cruise Line) fell 19.7%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** Over the past year, VIK rose 43.5% against 15.8% for the S&P 500 and 17.9% for the Nasdaq 100.

## How much would $10,000 in VIK have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in VIK over the past 2 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of VIK over the same span and VIK's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in VIK at the end of September 2024 would have grown to $22,450 by September 2026, more than the $13,598 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of VIK, and MU finished highest, at $103,342.

## VIK at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- VIK's deepest decline since it began trading in 2024 was 35.4%, from February to April 2025. It took two months from the low to climb back to its old high.
- VIK is 19.4% below its all-time high.

- Type: Stock, Consumer Discretionary (Travel Services)
- Trading since: May 1, 2024
- Market value: $39B
- Volatility (1 year): 40.2%; Sharpe ratio: 1.10
- Worst decline ever: −35.4%, from February 6, 2025 to April 7, 2025; back at its high by June 30, 2025

| Period | VIK total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | +1.4% |
| 3 months | −10.0% |
| 6 months | +1.3% |
| year to date | +20.7% |
| 1 year | +43.5% |

## VIK against the whole market

Where VIK ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does VIK rank among all stocks?

This section ranks VIK on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- VIK's 1-year return ranks in the top 20% of the 3,287 stocks worth at least $300 million with 1 year of history.

| Measure | VIK | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +43.5% | 659 of 3,287 (top 21%) |
| Volatility, 1 year | 40.2% | 1,646 of 3,287 (top 51%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 1 year | 1.10 | 754 of 3,287 (top 23%) |

## VIK against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against VIK, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do VIK's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 1 year against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- Only MAR was both more rewarding and calmer than VIK over the past 1 year, earning a higher annual return with lower volatility.
- Over the past 1 year, VIK returned 43.5% a year, more than the S&P 500's 15.8%, with higher volatility (40.2% against 12.7%).

### Has VIK consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares VIK with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over five periods from one month to one year.

- Six of the nine popular alternatives, led by LIND, MAR and ABNB, outperformed VIK in at least 3 of 5 timeframes.

| Investment | 1Y return | Periods ahead of VIK | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VIK: Viking Holdings Ltd (this page) | +43.5% |  |  | 1.10 |
| LIND: Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. | +195% | 5/5 short-term | consistent | 2.38 |
| [MAR](https://easycompare.io/research/mar): Marriott International, Inc. | +54.1% | 5/5 short-term | consistent | 1.73 |
| [ABNB](https://easycompare.io/research/abnb): Airbnb, Inc. | +39.1% | 4/5 short-term | consistent | 1.10 |
| [HLT](https://easycompare.io/research/hlt): Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. | +37.9% | 4/5 short-term | consistent | 1.46 |
| EXPE: Expedia Group, Inc. | +38.8% | 3/5 short-term | consistent | 0.90 |
| [RCL](https://easycompare.io/research/rcl): Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. | −3.1% | 3/5 short-term | consistent | 0.17 |
| CCL: Carnival Corporation & plc | −4.7% | 2/5 short-term |  | 0.15 |
| [BKNG](https://easycompare.io/research/bkng): Booking Holdings Inc. | −19.6% | 1/5 short-term |  | -0.39 |
| NCLH: Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. | −32.7% | 1/5 short-term |  | -0.46 |

## Risk and diversification

How VIK has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were VIK's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of VIK's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- Not every decline was the market's doing: VIK fell 27.8% from August to October 2026, while the S&P 500 slipped only 0.5%.
- None of these declines kept VIK below its old high for long; the longest climb back took two months.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −35.4% | February 6, 2025 | April 7, 2025 | June 30, 2025 | −16.6% |  |
| −27.8% | August 5, 2026 | October 1, 2026 | not yet | −0.5% |  |
| −15.5% | July 19, 2024 | September 10, 2024 | October 4, 2024 | 0.0% |  |
| −14.9% | February 26, 2026 | March 12, 2026 | April 14, 2026 | −3.4% |  |
| −12.6% | September 11, 2025 | November 4, 2025 | November 25, 2025 | +3.0% |  |

## Common questions

### What was VIK's worst drawdown?

VIK's deepest decline since it began trading in 2024 was 35.4%, from February to April 2025. It took two months from the low to climb back to its old high. Because VIK launched in May 2024, that record does not include the dot-com bust, the 2008 financial crisis or eight other sell-offs.

### What were VIK's best and worst years?

Over one full calendar years, VIK's best year was 2025, when it returned 62.1%. Its worst was 2025, with a return of +62.1%.

### What are the best alternatives to VIK?

Of the nine popular alternatives we compared, six outperformed VIK in at least 3 of 5 timeframes, with dividends reinvested: LIND, MAR and ABNB.

## More research

- [Marriott International (MAR) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/mar)
- [Airbnb (ABNB) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/abnb)
- [Hilton Worldwide (HLT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/hlt)
- [Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/rcl)
- [Booking (BKNG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/bkng)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)
- [Apple (AAPL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl)
- [Alphabet (GOOG) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/goog)
- [Microsoft (MSFT) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/msft)
- [Amazon.com (AMZN) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/amzn)
- [Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/vti)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/vik
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against VIK live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=VIK&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research