Shares of cruise operators surged toward multi-month highs Thursday, after BofA Securities analyst Andrew Didora boosted his price targets, and as recent news on potential COVID-19 vaccines have emboldened investors. Royal Caribbean Group's stock RCL, +4.60% rallied 4.5% in afternoon trading, which puts it on track to close at the highest price since Feb. 25. Shares of Carnival Corp. CCL, +8.15% CCL, +6.22% shot up 9.1% and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. NCLH, +8.71% jumped 8.5%, and were both headed for the highest closes since June 8. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.06% gained less than 0.1% but was still on track for a record close. BofA's Didora said the driver of the travel recovery in recent months as been led by leisure travel, and cruises are "a pure play" on that theme. He said the positive COVID-19 vaccine news "could help cruise lines reach peak earnings power sooner than previously expected," leading him to raise his earnings outlooks. He lifted his stock price target for Royal Caribbean to $60 from $34 and for Norwegian Cruise to $25 from $18. For Carnival, his target for the U.K.-listed stock was raised by 26% to 1,640 pence.