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Carters Inc key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Carters Inc had return on equity of 10.3%, an operating margin of 5.0%, debt equal to 62.2% of equity and a current ratio of 2.51. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2009Jan 20102010Jan 20112011Dec 20112012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Jan 20152015Jan 20162016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Jan 20212021Jan 20222022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Jan 2026LTMOct 2026
Gross margin38.0%38.6%32.8%39.4%41.5%40.9%41.7%43.1%43.6%43.3%42.9%43.4%47.7%45.8%47.4%48.0%45.4%49.1%
Operating margin12.3%13.9%8.9%11.0%10.0%11.5%13.0%13.3%12.3%11.3%10.6%6.3%14.3%11.8%11.0%9.0%5.0%10.4%
Net margin7.3%8.4%5.4%6.8%6.1%6.7%7.9%8.1%8.9%8.1%7.5%3.6%9.7%7.8%7.9%6.5%3.2%7.4%
Free-cash-flow margin14.0%2.6%1.7%8.2%1.0%6.2%6.8%8.8%7.7%8.4%9.3%18.4%6.6%1.5%15.9%8.5%2.4%10.7%
Return on equity20.8%23.7%15.3%18.0%19.0%26.2%28.6%31.0%36.8%32.7%30.2%12.1%36.0%28.6%28.3%21.8%10.3%22.2%
Return on assets9.6%11.9%8.6%10.6%9.3%10.5%12.2%13.0%15.1%13.7%11.0%3.6%10.3%8.9%9.7%7.7%3.7%8.4%
Asset turnover1.321.421.591.571.531.561.551.621.691.681.460.981.061.141.221.181.161.14
Current ratio3.963.915.123.923.614.204.303.813.083.192.332.462.652.252.152.252.512.78
Debt to equity60.2%34.7%29.3%18.9%83.6%74.5%66.1%73.6%72.0%68.2%67.6%105.5%104.3%77.4%59.2%67.3%62.2%53.9%
Interest cover (operating income ÷ interest)16.3x23.3x24.8x38.7x19.7x12.1x14.5x15.7x14.0x11.3x9.9x3.4x8.2x8.9x9.5x8.1x4.2x6.7x
Effective tax rate37.1%37.2%37.0%36.9%35.7%35.7%35.4%34.8%22.6%20.8%19.6%18.7%22.5%21.1%23.1%19.6%19.4%21.6%
SG&A as % of revenue27.0%26.8%25.7%29.9%32.9%30.8%30.2%31.1%32.6%33.1%32.4%36.6%34.2%34.6%37.1%38.7%41.0%39.3%
Capital spending as % of revenue−2.1%2.3%2.2%3.5%6.9%3.6%3.4%2.8%2.0%1.8%1.7%1.1%1.1%1.3%2.0%2.0%1.9%1.4%
Free cash flow ÷ net income192.4%31.4%31.2%121.1%16.9%91.9%86.0%108.9%85.9%103.7%123.5%506.4%67.9%19.2%201.8%130.8%74.8%145.3%
Dividends ÷ net income——0.0%0.0%17.3%20.8%19.4%25.7%23.4%29.7%34.0%23.9%17.7%47.2%48.2%62.6%61.4%16.6%
Dividends and buybacks ÷ free cash flow0.0%108.6%0.0%0.0%>999%68.5%76.4%130.7%99.8%94.6%87.9%12.9%155.7%870.4%45.2%68.7%82.1%11.4%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

5 of 7 checks passed · October 3, 2026
What it owns · $2.7bn
Short-term assets $1.4bnLonger-term assets $1.3bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $2.7bn
Short-term liabilities $510mLonger-term liabilities $1.1bnShareholders' equity $1.1bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $1.4bn of assets due within a year against $510m of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $1.4bn short-term assets against $1.1bn of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt $451m of cash against $568m of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 54% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 54% to 54% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $360m of operating cash flow against $568m of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $309m against $46m of interest.

From Carters Inc's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

69 /100

Moderate moat

How hard Carters's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 15 / 20

    Net income has been a median 9.3% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 16 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 46.3%, moving by 2.4 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 9 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 10.8%; its worst year was 5.0%.

  • Cash conversion 15 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 9.4% of revenue.

  • Discipline 20 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 18.4% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.5% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Medium. In this industry, AI could change how the product is made or sold, without replacing the core asset. The score above includes a 5-point deduction for that exposure (74 before it).

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: CRI vs MNSOCRI vs IBPCHDN vs CRI

More: Consumer Discretionary sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from Carters Inc's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved November 3, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Carters Inc.