Carter’s Inc
🔔 Watch stock
Assessment
Our Rating
A journalistic assessment by our editorial team at the time of the deep dive — it rates the company, not the entry point. Not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell.
The business works in principle, but one material question is open. As long as it stays open, our findings do not carry a quality verdict.
Why this colour
Yellow here stands for an open operating question, not for a risk to the substance. The substance is documented: $653.6 million of cash and $1,027.3 million of equity as of July 4, 2026, an undrawn $750 million credit facility, covenants met, no going-concern warning, no goodwill impairment, $202.3 million of cash from operations in the half year, and undisputed market leadership in baby apparel. What is open is earning power itself: operating income has fallen four years running, the only real profit engine — U.S. Wholesale — lost 19.2 percent of segment operating income in the half year, 92 percent of the quarterly profit came from a one-time effect, and the most important burden, trade policy, lies outside the company's control. On top of that comes the third chief executive in twenty-six months with no published medium-term targets. Whether the stock is cheap at a price-earnings ratio of roughly 7 reported and roughly 12 adjusted belongs to the price question and does not drive this assessment. Red would require cash, equity or interest cover to turn; green would require adjusted earnings to rise again with the tariff burden demonstrably offset.
What the thesis turns on
Assessment: Opportunities & Risks
Carter's is the headline trap in its purest form: the second quarter of 2026 delivered $2.87 per share against $0.01 a year earlier — adjusted for the $127.7 million tariff refund, $0.26 and an operating margin of 2.9 percent instead of 22.7 percent remain, and the company works it out that way itself. Behind it stands a market-leading supplier of baby apparel with a healthy balance sheet ($653.6 million of cash, $1,027.3 million of equity) and a growing own-retail business — and at the same time an operating income that has fallen from $379.2 million to $143.9 million since 2022, a wholesale segment whose half-year profit is down 19.2 percent, and a company outlook that calls for falling adjusted earnings per share in 2026. Not investment advice.
Earnings quality
Of the $139.8 million of reported operating income in the second quarter of 2026, $127.7 million came from a one-time tariff refund. Adjusted, $18.1 million and a 2.9 percent margin remain instead of 22.7 percent, and $0.26 per share instead of $2.87. Remaining open refund claims stood at only roughly $2 million as of July 4, 2026.
Operating trend
In the first half of 2026 net sales rose 6.7 percent to $1,296.6 million, yet segment operating income fell 2.7 percent to $89.4 million — and 19.2 percent to $66.5 million in U.S. Wholesale. Adjusted earnings per share fell from $0.83 to $0.65. GAAP operating income has fallen from $379.2 million (2022) to $143.9 million (2025).
Balance sheet and liquidity
As of July 4, 2026, $653.6 million of cash and $1,027.3 million of equity stood against a single bond of $575.0 million principal — cash exceeds financial debt. The $750 million credit facility was undrawn, $568.6 million available, covenants met. No going-concern warning, no goodwill impairment. Cash from operations for the half year was $202.3 million. On top of that sit $616.9 million of lease liabilities from store leases.
Tariff and sourcing risk
Incremental tariff costs hit cost of goods sold by roughly $78 million in the first half of 2026; roughly $18 million was still in inventory on July 4, 2026. Since July 24, 2026, new tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent apply to imports from roughly 60 countries, and Carter's sources practically all of its goods from Asia — roughly 60 percent of the fabric still came from China in 2025.
Market position
Carter's remains the clear market leader with roughly 21 percent of baby apparel for ages zero to two (December 2025) and operates 1,042 company-operated stores (04.07.2026). The share collapses as customers age, however: roughly 8 percent among toddlers aged three to four, roughly 2 percent among five- to ten-year-olds. Across all age groups the Carter's brands reach roughly 9 percent. The company itself names declining birth rates as a market condition.
Leadership and capital returns
Three chief executives in twenty-six months: Douglas Palladini started April 3, 2025 and departed effective April 28, 2026; Sharon Price John took over on June 15, 2026. Transition costs were $4.7 million in the second quarter of 2026. The dividend was cut 69 percent to $0.25 from the second quarter of 2025; there have been no repurchases since.
Worth Noting
Carter's came onto the research list through the SEC filing calendar: on July 31, 2026 the quarterly report (10-Q) for the period ended July 4, 2026 and the earnings release as Exhibit 99.1 to a current report (8-K) arrived on the same day. The company's 2026 outlook appears exclusively in Exhibit 99.1, not in the quarterly report.
Data basis: annual figures as of January 3, 2026 from the annual report (10-K) for 2025, interim figures as of July 4, 2026 from the quarterly report (10-Q), outlook and quarterly metrics as of July 31, 2026, market capitalisation, short interest and analyst consensus as of August 3, 2026. Market capitalisation is deliberately used only as an order of magnitude: the share count of 36,711,185 (as of July 24, 2026) comes from the cover page of the quarterly report, while the only price documented in a mandatory filing is the closing price of June 27, 2025 from the cover page of the annual report and is therefore more than a year old.
Not to be confused: Carter's, Inc. (NYSE: CRI, children's apparel, CIK 0001060822) is a different company from Carter Bankshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: CARE), a regional bank in Virginia. Both trade under the Carter name but have nothing to do with each other.
On the fiscal year: Carter's reports in 52- or 53-week years ending on the Saturday closest to December 31. Fiscal 2025 ended on January 3, 2026 and had 53 weeks — roughly $37 million of the $54.3 million sales increase came from that extra week. Comparisons between 2025 and 2026 are therefore not adjusted without further work.
Stock Watch
This analysis is as of August 26, 2026. Stock Watch will tell you what's changed at CRI since then.
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Price history
Chart
Interactive price chart (TradingView).
52-week range: 27.50 $ to 44.40 $ · Last price: 29.70 $ (As of: September 17, 2026)
Key figures
Key figures at a glance
Every figure we hold for this stock, grouped by topic. The question mark next to a label explains what the number means.
Basics
Performance
Technical Indicators
Calculated from the price history · as of 09/18/2026
Valuation
Profitability
Balance Sheet & Safety
Growth
Dividend
Quality & Screener
Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.
Comparison
Industry comparison
The stock alongside the largest companies in the same group. The median row is the middle value of the companies shown above — not of the whole industry.
Industry: Apparel Retail
| Company | Market cap ($B) | P/E | EV/EBITDA | Gross Margin % | EBIT Margin % | Sales Growth (Year) % | Perf. 1Y % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carter’s Inc CRI | 1.1 | – | 4.7 | 48.6 | 4.2 | 1.9 | -2.4 |
| The TJX Companies Inc TJX | 139.9 | 25.1 | 15.6 | 31.5 | 11.8 | 7.1 | -8.5 |
| Ross Stores Inc ROST | 73.6 | 32.7 | 18.2 | 33.4 | 13.4 | 7.7 | 57.8 |
| Burlington Stores Inc BURL | 15.1 | 26.4 | 13.5 | 44.1 | 5.9 | 8.8 | -8.9 |
| Lululemon Athletica Inc. LULU | 11.3 | 8.6 | 4.7 | 54.9 | 11.2 | 4.9 | -39.2 |
| The Gap, Inc. GAP | 7.7 | 8.5 | 4.5 | 40.5 | 12.7 | 1.9 | -5.7 |
| Urban Outfitters Inc URBN | 6.7 | 15.8 | 8.1 | 36.0 | 9.0 | 11.1 | 8.2 |
| Abercrombie & Fitch Company ANF | 6.3 | 13.9 | 6.9 | 63.7 | 8.0 | 6.4 | 62.3 |
| Victoria's Secret & Co VSXY | 6.2 | 31.3 | 10.9 | 37.8 | 5.2 | 5.2 | – |
| Median of companies shown | 7.7 | 20.5 | 8.1 | 40.5 | 9.0 | 6.4 | -4.1 |
Based on the most recently reported figures. Only stocks from the same trading venue are lined up, so the market caps are counted in one currency. Compare in a chart →
Fiscal years
Annual Figures
Fiscal years from the audited annual reports, oldest first. EBIT is the operating profit before interest and taxes; total assets are everything the company owns.
Revenue, operating income and net income per fiscal year $M
Revenue Operating income Net income
| Fiscal Year | Revenue ($M) | EBIT ($M) | Net Income ($M) | EPS ($) | Operating Cash Flow ($M) | Equity ($M) | Total Assets ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 3,199 | 427 | 258 | 5.12 | 369 | 788 | 1,947 |
| 2017 | 3,400 | 420 | 303 | 6.29 | 330 | 857 | 2,068 |
| 2018 | 3,462 | 391 | 282 | 6.05 | 356 | 869 | 2,059 |
| 2019 | 3,519 | 372 | 264 | 5.90 | 387 | 880 | 2,753 |
| 2020 | 3,024 | 190 | 110 | 2.53 | 588 | 938 | 3,393 |
| 2021 | 3,486 | 497 | 340 | 7.90 | 268 | 950 | 3,188 |
| 2022 | 3,213 | 379 | 250 | 6.44 | 88 | 796 | 2,440 |
| 2023 | 2,946 | 323 | 233 | 6.35 | 529 | 845 | 2,379 |
| 2024 | 2,844 | 255 | 186 | 5.22 | 299 | 855 | 2,433 |
| 2025 | 2,898 | 144 | 92 | 2.59 | 122 | 925 | 2,565 |
Quarters
Quarterly Figures
Each bar is one quarter, the last one is the most recent. Use the switch to step through the individual figures.
Revenue & Profit
Cash Flow
Balance Sheet
Margins
Per Share
Click the chart or tab into it, then use ← and → to step through the periods.
None of the selected stocks reports this metric. Pick another metric or switch between annual and quarterly.
· Total · per year
These companies report in different currencies — switch on “Indexed” or pick a margin for a fair comparison.
The figures could not be loaded right now.
Source: fundamental data
| Quarter | EPS (Earnings Per Share) | EPS YoY (%) | Sales ($M) | Sales YoY (%) | Net Margin (%) | OCF ($M) | FCF ($M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024: Q4 | 1.74 | -41.10 | 860 | 0.20 | 7.20 | 288 | 271 |
| 2025: Q1 | 0.44 | -58.50 | 630 | -4.80 | 2.50 | -49 | -59 |
| 2025: Q2 | 0.01 | -98.40 | 585 | 3.70 | 0.10 | 40 | 24 |
| 2025: Q3 | 0.33 | -80.20 | 758 | -0.10 | 1.50 | -128 | -144 |
| 2025: Q4 | 1.81 | 4.00 | 926 | 7.60 | 6.90 | 259 | 248 |
| 2026: Q1 | 0.40 | -8.10 | 681 | 8.10 | 2.10 | 6 | -1 |
| 2026: Q2 | 2.87 | 28,600.00 | 616 | 5.20 | 17.10 | 196 | 190 |
What Do These Terms Mean?
- EPS (Earnings Per Share):
- Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
- YoY (Year over Year):
- Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
- Sales:
- All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
- Net Margin:
- What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
- OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
- The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
- FCF (Free Cash Flow):
- Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.
Screening
Appears in These Scanners
This stock currently matches 14 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.
Quality & Balance Sheet
Aktien.Guide
Breakout & Setup
Dividends
Momentum & Trend
- 21-EMA Trend
- Above the 50- & 200-SMA
- Mark Minervini: Trend Criteria — 1 Month
- Near 52-Week High
- Power Trend
- Stan Weinstein: Stage 2
Research
Value & GARP
Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners
Outlook
Analysts & Price Target
Combined picture of the price targets and recommendations of every analyst covering the stock. Price targets are expectations for the next 12 months, not promises — and they often follow the price rather than predict it.
Distribution of Recommendations
Estimates by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | EPS Estimate ($) | EPS Range ($) | Revenue Estimate ($M) | Expected Growth | Analysts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/31/2026 | 3.27 | 3.10 – 3.57 | 2,978 | -5.7% | 8 |
| 12/31/2027 | 3.69 | 3.30 – 4.10 | 3,029 | 12.9% | 8 |
Average of the analyst estimates for the coming fiscal years. The range shows how far the most optimistic and the most cautious estimate sit apart — the wider it is, the less certain the expectation.
Valuation
What is priced in?
Instead of guessing what the stock is worth, we turn the question around: what free cash flow growth has to happen for today’s market value to add up? The assumptions behind it can be moved.
Today’s market value implies roughly -17.4% growth in free cash flow per year over ten years (assumptions: discount rate 10.0%, terminal growth 2.5%).
| Free cash flow (last twelve months) | $293.0M |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $1.06B |
| Free cash flow in year ten | $43.6M |
| Terminal value as a share of market value | 21.6% |
For comparison: over the past five years free cash flow shrank by 34.2% per year.
It shows which assumption is built into today’s price, not whether that assumption will hold. Every assumption can be changed with the sliders; the figures move with them.
A simplified model calculation — not a forecast and not a recommendation.
AI classification
AI Rating
Künstliche Intelligenz kommt in den Pflichtberichten von Carter's ausschließlich in zwei Risikohinweisen vor — als Fähigkeit von Wettbewerbern und als Werkzeug von Angreifern auf die IT. Das Unternehmen verkauft keine KI-Leistung, beschreibt keinen eigenen KI-Einsatz in Produktentwicklung, Beschaffung oder Vertrieb (genannt werden lediglich „consumer research, data analytics, and trend insights“) und benennt keine Verdrängung seines Geschäfts durch KI. Der Absatz von Baby- und Kleinkindbekleidung hängt an Geburtenzahlen, Handelszöllen und Regalfläche, nicht an Modellen.
View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings
„Some of our competitors have greater financial resources and larger customer bases than we have. As a result, these competitors may be able to adapt to changes in customer requirements and preferences more quickly, take advantage of acquisitions and other opportunities more readily, devote greater resources to the marketing and sale of their products, adopt more aggressive pricing strategies than we can, and more successfully utilize developing technology, including data analytics, artificial intelligence (“AI”), and machine learning."
Einige unserer Wettbewerber verfügen über größere Finanzmittel und größere Kundenstämme als wir. Dadurch können diese Wettbewerber sich schneller an veränderte Kundenanforderungen und -vorlieben anpassen, Zukäufe und andere Gelegenheiten leichter nutzen, mehr Mittel für die Vermarktung und den Verkauf ihrer Produkte einsetzen, aggressivere Preisstrategien verfolgen als wir und aufkommende Technologie erfolgreicher nutzen, darunter Datenanalyse, künstliche Intelligenz („KI“) und maschinelles Lernen.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
„Additionally, our competitors may outpace us in incorporating new technologies, such as AI, into their product offerings and engagement with customers, which could affect our competitiveness and operational outcomes. Our efforts to utilize these technological advancements may not be successful, may result in substantial integration and maintenance costs, and may expose us to additional risks."
Zudem könnten unsere Wettbewerber uns dabei überholen, neue Technologien wie KI in ihr Produktangebot und in den Kundenkontakt einzubauen, was unsere Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und unsere betrieblichen Ergebnisse beeinträchtigen könnte. Unsere eigenen Bemühungen, diese technischen Fortschritte zu nutzen, könnten scheitern, erhebliche Integrations- und Wartungskosten verursachen und uns zusätzlichen Risiken aussetzen.
10-K · 2026-02-27 · View SEC filing
Filings Reviewed: 10-Q 2026-07-31 · 8-K 2026-07-31 · 10-Q 2026-05-06 · 10-K 2026-02-27 · 10-K 2025-02-25 · 8-K 2026-05-01
Rated on August 3, 2026 · How the Rating Is Built
Growth
Growth Score
Ten checks against the annual reports — each one passed counts a point.
- Revenue grows by more than 15% a year over three years -3.4%
- More than 10% revenue growth is expected for the coming year 1.2%
- Share count grows by less than 3% a year -3.0%
- Revenue growth plus cash-flow margin add up to at least 40 ("Rule of 40") 4.3%
- Gross margin at 40% or higher and without meaningful erosion 45.4%
- Goodwill from acquisitions does not grow faster than revenue 8.2%
- Net debt below twice EBITDA 3.6 x EBITDA
- Operating cash flow covers the profits of the last three years 440 m
- Return on capital at 15% or higher, or up versus two years ago 7.0%
- Insiders hold at least 10% or are net buyers 4.8%
A criterion without figures counts neither as passed nor as failed; a score is only produced from 7 judgeable criteria upwards. Source: fundamental data. All ten criteria in detail
Quality check
AAQS
4/10The AAQS (AlleAktien Quality Score) checks 10 quality criteria on growth, profitability, and balance-sheet strength — per the methodology developed and published by AlleAktien, calculated by us from our own fundamental data. A stock counts as a quality stock from 9 out of 10 points. Where a company has a shorter listing history, we calculate over the fiscal years available (at least five).
- Sales growth 10Y > 5% -1.1%
- Exp. sales growth 3Y > 5% 2.2%
- EBIT growth 10Y > 5% -11.4%
- Exp. EBIT growth 3Y > 5% 19.4%
- Net debt < 4x EBIT 5.0x
- EBIT positive, 10Y straight 10
- Max. EBIT decline < 50% 71.0%
- Return on equity > 15% 21.5%
- ROCE > 15% 7.0%
- Expected return > 10% 27.1%
View stocks with the full AAQS score · Read the methodology at AlleAktien
Source: fundamental data
Insiders
Insider Transactions
Reportable transactions by officers and major shareholders from SEC Form 4 filings. "Other" includes things like stock grants and option exercises without a buy/sell character.
| Date | Person | Role | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12, 2026 | Smith Karen Marie | Chief Supply Chain Officer | Other | 1,124 | 39.06 | 43,903 |
| Aug 9, 2026 | Peterson Allison | Chf. Retail & Digital Ofc. | Other | 4,426 | 39.96 | 176,863 |
| Aug 8, 2026 | Scanlon Emily DeHaven Evert | Chief Strategy Officer | Other | 8,743 | 39.96 | 349,370 |
| Aug 8, 2026 | Crockett Sarah | Chief Marketing Officer | Other | 2,842 | 39.96 | 113,566 |
The company
About the Company
Carter's, Inc. befasst sich gemeinsam mit ihren Tochtergesellschaften mit Design, Beschaffung und Vermarktung von Markenkinderbekleidung in den USA und international.
- Employees
- 15,400
- Headquarters
- Atlanta, GA
- Address
- Phipps Tower, 30326 Atlanta, United States
- Phone
- 678 791 1000
- Website
- carters.com
- IPO Date
- 10/24/2003
- ISIN
- US1462291097
- Stock Split
- 2:1 on 06/07/2006
Management
| Name | Title | Birth Year |
|---|---|---|
| Richard F. Westenberger CPA | CFO & COO | 1969 |
| Karen G. Smith | Chief Supply Chain Officer | 1968 |
| Allison M. Peterson | Chief Retail & Digital Officer | 1976 |
| Emily D. Evert | Chief Strategy Officer | 1988 |
| Sharon Price John | President, CEO & Director | 1964 |
| Antonio D. Robinson | Chief Administrative & Compliance Officer and Secretary | 1972 |
| Thomas C. Robillard Jr. | Vice President of Investor Relations | – |
| Lindsay Rider | Senior Director of Public Affairs | – |
| Julie A. D'Emilio | Chief Sales Officer | 1967 |
| Sarah J. Crockett | Chief Marketing Officer | 1983 |
Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.
Filings
Company Filings (8-K)
An 8-K is the filing a US company must use to disclose material events immediately — takeovers, changes at the top, major contracts or payment troubles, for instance. The links open the original document at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Data as of: September 17, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)
Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.