Carters, Inc.

Company Description

Carter's, Inc. designs and sells apparel for babies and young children in the United States. The company was founded in 1865 and has a market cap. of $1.12 billion.

Carter's reported solid third-quarter results on Oct 21 that were ahead of analyst estimates. Revenue was up 6.2% to $436.4 million. Earnings came in at 60 cents per share, ahead of expectations by 12 cents.

Consistent Results

This was the third time in the last 3 quarters that Carters has surprised and beat analyst estimates, having done so by an average of 10 cents.

During the earnings call Carters noted that its mass channel sales, comprising of third-party distributors like Wal-Mart and Target, increased 13.4% to $76.7 million.

Estimates Holding Steady

At a time when many companies are struggling to remain profitable, analysts are mostly bullish on the company's earnings projections. The current-year estimate is up to $1.36 per share from $1.24 60 days ago.

The next-year estimate has recently ticked lower, dropping 4 cents in the last month to $1.41 per share, but still a 4% earnings growth projection none the less.

Added to the SmallCap 600 Index

On Oct 28, Carter's, Inc. was added to the S&P's SmallCap 600 Index. This is beneficial because mutual fund managers that are tracking this index will need to purchase shares of the company in order to replicate its composition.

The Chart

Shares of CRI have been steadily advancing since bottoming out just above $12 in mid summer. More recently, this stock has launched a nice rally after rebounding from an up trend-line, moving to within striking distance of the short-term high just above $22. Take a look below.