Carter's, Inc. (CRI) AI Stock Analysis

Carter's, Inc. designs, sources, and markets branded childrenswear globally under labels such as Carter's, OshKosh, Skip Hop, Child of Mine, Just One You, Simple Joys, Carter's My First Love, and little planet. It operates three segments: U.S. Retail, U.S. Wholesale, and International. Products include baby bodysuits, sleepwear, dresses, denim playclothes, outerwear, shoes, toys, and nursery essentials. Skip Hop adds playtime, mealtime, and diaper bags. Carter's distributes products through 18,800 wholesale locations, company-operated stores, and e-commerce websites including carters.com and oshkosh.com.

Revenue fell from $3.49B in FY2021 to $2.90B in FY2025, recording a 5-year revenue CAGR of -0.8%. Annual net income declined over the same span from $339.7M to $91.8M, with operating margin compressing from 14.3% in FY2021 to 5.0% in FY2025. Diluted EPS decreased from $7.89 in FY2021 to $3.47 in FY2025. In the latest quarter ended June 30, 2026, quarterly revenue grew 5.2% year-over-year, while quarterly earnings growth increased 47146.4%. For the trailing twelve months, revenue reached $2.98B, operating margin was 23.7%, and profit margin was 6.6%.

As of June 30, 2026, Carter's held $653.6M in cash and short-term investments against total debt of $1.18B, leaving net debt at $531.2M. Shareholders' equity stood at $1.03B and total assets totaled $2.73B, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 2.47. In FY2025, the company generated $122.3M in operating cash flow and $68.6M in free cash flow. Capital allocation in FY2025 included $53.7M in capital expenditures, $56.4M in dividends paid, and $4.5M in share buybacks.

CRI trades at a trailing P/E of 5.9x and a forward P/E of 16.4x, compared to medians of 18.0x and 14.1x for its US-listed Consumer Cyclical peers. Its enterprise value-to-EBITDA stands at 4.7x, below the peer median of 11.1x, while its price-to-sales is 0.4x versus 0.7x for peers. Over the past year, the stock returned 6.3%, trailing the S&P 500 (SPY) return of 16.8%. Over five years, the stock is down 60.9%, underperforming the benchmark return of 83.0%.

Carter's pays an annual forward dividend of $1.00 per share, which corresponds to a dividend yield of 3.18% and a payout ratio of 31.2%. The dividend is distributed quarterly and has been paid for 14 consecutive years. The company's 5-year annualized dividend growth rate is 20.9%, with the most recent ex-dividend date on September 1, 2026.

Wall Street analysts have 3 Strong Buy, 0 Buy, 4 Hold, and 1 Sell ratings on CRI. The mean price target is $40.57, representing a 29.0% premium over the last close of $31.45. For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026, consensus estimates project revenue of $2.97B and EPS of $3.23, implying an EPS decline of 6.9%. Carter's has beaten EPS estimates in 3 of the last 4 quarters, and the next earnings date is October 26, 2026.

This page is an AI-written research summary of Carter's, Inc. (CRI). The text was generated on October 30, 2026 from Quotelinks data as of October 16, 2026 (company profile, annual results, latest balance sheet, valuation, price performance and analyst estimates). An automatic check rejects any draft that contains a figure not found in that data. It is not investment advice; verify figures on the linked tabs before making decisions.

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