At a glance
Carter’s Inc is worth $1.14B, about 12 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 1.9% to $2.90B in fiscal 2025, with 3.2% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 0.8% a year. It pays a 3.22% dividend yield, and returned $1.21B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +1.5% over the past year with dividends reinvested and −17.8% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 42.0% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 35.4% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%).
The business in plain English
Carter's, Inc. calls itself North America's largest apparel company focused only on babies and young children. Its core brands are Carter's, founded in 1865, and OshKosh B'gosh, a playclothes brand acquired in 2005. It also makes exclusive Carter's brands for big retailers: Child of Mine for Walmart, Just One You for Target and Simple Joys for Amazon. Smaller brands include Skip Hop baby gear, Little Planet organic clothing and Otter Avenue for toddlers.
Carter's makes money by selling clothing, sleepwear and accessories for children from newborn to size 14. In fiscal 2025, which ended January 3, 2026, revenue was about $2.9 billion. Baby products brought in 43.5%, playclothes 31.6% and sleepwear 12.1%. As of December 2025, Carter's brands held about 9% of a roughly $29 billion U.S. market for children up to age 10, the largest share. It also licenses its brands for products like footwear, toys and bedding.
Revenue comes from three segments. U.S. Retail (its own stores, websites and app) supplied 50.6% in fiscal 2025, U.S. Wholesale (sales to other retailers) 34.5%, and International (stores and websites in Canada and Mexico, plus overseas wholesale partners) 14.9%. As of January 3, 2026, it ran 1,068 stores and sold through about 19,500 wholesale locations in North America. It plans to close about 150 lower-margin stores through fiscal 2028.
Price history
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CRI +1.5% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Baby | $1.26B | 43.5% |
| Playclothes | $914.7M | 31.6% |
| Other | $371.5M | 12.8% |
| Sleepwear | $351.6M | 12.1% |
By business segment
| U.S. Retail | $1.47B | 50.6% |
| U.S. Wholesale | $1.00B | 34.5% |
| International | $431.0M | 14.9% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Oct 3, 2026), revenue was $752.5M, down 0.7% from a year earlier, and net income was $36.6M (+215.8%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $2.90B (+1.9% year over year; -0.8% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 3.2% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | -0.8% weak |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 5% watch |
| Free cash flow margin | 2.4% watch |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 9.9% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 3.6% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-42.2M watch |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $3.02B | $109.7M | $555.6M |
| FY2021 | $3.49B | $339.7M | $230.8M |
| FY2022 | $3.21B | $250.0M | $48.0M |
| FY2023 | $2.95B | $232.5M | $469.3M |
| FY2024 | $2.84B | $185.5M | $242.6M |
| FY2025 | $2.90B | $91.8M | $68.6M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $1.14B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 12.3 |
| Dividend yield | 3.22% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Carter’s’s market value went from $4.27B at the end of 2016 to $1.14B on Oct 28, 2026, down 73%; since the end of 2025 it is down 4%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $1.14B | -3.6% |
| 2025 | $1.18B | -39.5% |
| 2024 | $1.95B | -29.2% |
| 2023 | $2.76B | -3.1% |
| 2022 | $2.85B | -33.4% |
| 2021 | $4.28B | +4.2% |
| 2020 | $4.11B | -14.9% |
| 2019 | $4.83B | +29.0% |
| 2018 | $3.74B | -32.7% |
| 2017 | $5.56B | +30.4% |
| 2016 | $4.27B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRI price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -2.2% | +1.5% | -18.3% | -17.8% | -7.2% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -2.2% |
| 2025 | -37.5% |
| 2024 | -24.1% |
| 2023 | +4.9% |
| 2022 | -23.4% |
| 2021 | +9.1% |
| 2020 | -13.4% |
| 2019 | +36.9% |
| 2018 | -29.3% |
| 2017 | +38.3% |
| 2016 | -1.6% |
| 2015 | +2.9% |
| 2014 | +22.8% |
| 2013 | +29.9% |
| 2012 | +39.8% |
| 2011 | +34.9% |
| 2010 | +12.4% |
| 2009 | +36.3% |
| 2008 | -0.5% |
| 2007 | -24.1% |
| 2006 | -13.3% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 24.4% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 44.6%, back to its old high 9.5 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 40.7% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 42%, back to its old high 13.6 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 28.2% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 35.4%, not recovered by the end of the data |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 0 sales ($0.00).
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 14.5% | Jun 30, 2025 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 9.54% | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Dimensional Fund Advisors LP | 5.2% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Pacific Investment Management Company LLC | 5.1% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| RWWM, Inc. | 3.9% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| AQR Capital Management, LLC | 1.56% | Sep 30, 2025 |
| Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows ETF | 1.25% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| First Trust Portfolios L.P. | 1.14% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. | 0.6% | May 30, 2025 |
ETFs with the most weight in CRI
| WBIY WBI Power Factor High Dividend ETF | 1.74% |
| FXD First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX Fund | 1.37% |
| DGRS WisdomTree US Smallcap Quality Dividend Growth Fund | 1.11% |
| DEEP Acquirers Small and Micro Deep Value ETF | 0.94% |
| MYLD Cambria Micro and SmallCap Shareholder Yield ETF | 0.93% |
| FGD First Trust Dow Jones Global Select Dividend Index Fund | 0.91% |
| HEJD VictoryShares Hedged Equity Income ETF | 0.66% |
| DSMC Distillate Small/Mid Cash Flow ETF | 0.53% |
What could go wrong
- Almost everything is made overseas. Carter's sources substantially all its products from foreign suppliers, and a few vendors make much of it. Shifts in U.S. trade policy, labor disruptions or losing a key vendor could raise costs or delay deliveries.
- Heavy reliance on big retail partners. U.S. Wholesale sales to other retailers were 34.5% of fiscal 2025 revenue, and Carter's makes exclusive brands for Walmart, Target and Amazon. Financial trouble at, or loss of, a major customer could cut revenue significantly.
- Turnaround and store closures may disappoint. Carter's plans to close about 150 lower-margin stores through fiscal 2028 and is giving each brand its own strategy and resources. The company warns its restructuring and cost-saving plans may not deliver the expected benefits.
- Thin margins with limited pricing power. Carter's kept only about 5 cents of operating profit per dollar of sales in fiscal 2025. It may be unable to raise prices enough to cover higher costs for materials, labor and transport.
- Fashion misses and inventory mistakes. Tastes and trends in children's clothing shift. If Carter's orders too much, it may have to discount heavily; too little, and it loses sales. Either can hurt profits and relationships with retailers.
- One Georgia distribution center handles much merchandise. A distribution facility in Braselton, Georgia handles a large portion of Carter's merchandise. Any serious disruption there could delay shipments to stores, online shoppers and wholesale customers.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released; Executive or board change; Other company announcement
- Other company announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released; Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change
For income and retirement investors
Carter's pays a quarterly dividend but has not raised it steadily. Dividends per share rose from $0.60 in fiscal 2020 to $3.20 in fiscal 2024, then fell to $1.55 in fiscal 2025. At that lower level, dividends took 61% of earnings and 82% of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business). The dividend yield was 3.22% as of October 28, 2026. Carter's spent about $750 million on buybacks from fiscal 2021 to 2025, and its share count fell about 13% from October 2021 to July 2026, but it bought back none in fiscal 2025.
The shares have fallen hard in past downturns: about 45% around the 2008 financial crisis and 42% in the 2020 COVID crash, recovering roughly 10 and 14 months after the lows. After a 35% drop in the 2022 bear market, they had not recovered as of October 28, 2026. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.
Questions investors ask
How does Carter's make money?
Carter's makes money by selling baby and young children's clothing, sleepwear and accessories. In fiscal 2025, which ended January 3, 2026, 50.6% of its roughly $2.9 billion in revenue came from its own U.S. stores, websites and app, 34.5% from selling to other U.S. retailers, and 14.9% from international sales, including its stores in Canada and Mexico. It also licenses its brand names to other companies for products such as footwear, toys and bedding.
Did Carter's cut its dividend?
Yes. Dividends per share fell by roughly half, from $3.20 in fiscal 2024 to $1.55 in fiscal 2025, and Carter's has no ongoing streak of yearly increases. Even after the cut, dividends used about 61% of fiscal 2025 earnings and 82% of free cash flow. The dividend yield (yearly dividends as a share of the stock price) was 3.22% as of October 28, 2026. The company's annual report says future dividends and buybacks are subject to uncertainties.
Is Carter's closing stores?
Yes. In fiscal 2025, Carter's began a plan to close about 150 lower-margin stores through fiscal 2028, aiming to improve productivity and strengthen how its brands are presented. It operated 1,068 company-run stores in North America as of January 3, 2026. Stores still matter: the U.S. Retail segment, which includes stores, websites and the app, made up 50.6% of fiscal 2025 revenue. The company warns that restructuring plans may not deliver the expected benefits.
How much debt does Carter's have?
Carter's had about $568 million of total debt as of July 4, 2026, against about $654 million in cash and investments, so it held roughly $86 million more cash than debt. Its debt agreements include senior notes (a type of bond) and an asset-based credit line. The annual report still flags substantial debt as a risk, noting that variable-rate borrowing can get costlier when rates rise and that loan terms limit some financial choices.
How has Carter's stock performed over the long run?
Poorly over most longer periods. Based on price, the shares were down about 62% over five years and 53% over ten years as of October 28, 2026, though up 1.5% over one year. They fell 24% in calendar 2024 and 37% in calendar 2025. Business results weakened too: diluted earnings per share dropped from $7.81 in fiscal 2021 to $2.53 in fiscal 2025, and revenue shrank about 0.8% a year from fiscal 2020 to 2025.