Carter's vs Kontoor Brands
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The short version
- Kontoor Brands is the larger business, with $3.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.9B for Carter's.
- Kontoor Brands grew revenue faster (20.9%, against 1.9%).
- Kontoor Brands kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (10.7% operating margin, against 5.0%).
- Kontoor Brands turned more of its sales into free cash flow (13.8% FCF margin, against 2.4%).
- Kontoor Brands earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (21.2%, against 11.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Kontoor Brands’s earnings: a P/E of 15.9x against 6.1x for Carter's.
| Latest fiscal year | CRI · FY25 | KTB · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $1.2B | $4.2B |
| Revenue | $2.9B | $3.2B |
| Free cash flow | $68.6M | $435M |
| Net income | $91.8M | $228M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 1.9% | 20.9% |
| 5-year growth | −0.9% | 8.5% |
| Share count change | −0.3% | −0.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 45.4% | 45.2% |
| Operating margin | 5.0% | 10.7% |
| Net margin | 3.2% | 7.2% |
| FCF margin | 2.4% | 13.8% |
| Return on capital | 11.9% | 21.2% |
| Return on equity | 10.3% | 47.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $80.1M | $1.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.4x | 2.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $56.4M | $141M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 6.1x | 15.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
CRI $3.2B
KTB —
FY17
CRI $3.4B
KTB $2.8B
FY18
CRI $3.5B
KTB $2.8B
FY19
CRI $3.5B
KTB $2.5B
FY20
CRI $3.0B
KTB $2.1B
FY21
CRI $3.5B
KTB $2.5B
FY22
CRI $3.2B
KTB $2.6B
FY23
CRI $2.9B
KTB $2.6B
FY24
CRI $2.8B
KTB $2.6B
FY25
CRI $2.9B
KTB $3.2B
CRI
KTB
Operating margin
FY16
CRI 13.3%
KTB —
FY17
CRI 12.3%
KTB 12.6%
FY18
CRI 11.3%
KTB 12.1%
FY19
CRI 10.6%
KTB 6.6%
FY20
CRI 6.3%
KTB 5.9%
FY21
CRI 14.3%
KTB 11.4%
FY22
CRI 11.8%
KTB 13.6%
FY23
CRI 11.0%
KTB 12.2%
FY24
CRI 9.0%
KTB 13.1%
FY25
CRI 5.0%
KTB 10.7%
CRI
KTB
Free cash flow
FY16
CRI $281M
KTB —
FY17
CRI $260M
KTB $143M
FY18
CRI $292M
KTB −$117M
FY19
CRI $326M
KTB $755M
FY20
CRI $556M
KTB $224M
FY21
CRI $231M
KTB $273M
FY22
CRI $48.0M
KTB $65.2M
FY23
CRI $469M
KTB $329M
FY24
CRI $243M
KTB $349M
FY25
CRI $68.6M
KTB $435M
CRI
KTB
Return on capital
FY16
CRI 25.9%
KTB —
FY17
CRI 27.5%
KTB —
FY18
CRI 24.0%
KTB —
FY19
CRI 23.4%
KTB 9.6%
FY20
CRI 14.8%
KTB 14.2%
FY21
CRI 43.2%
KTB 30.1%
FY22
CRI 27.7%
KTB 31.4%
FY23
CRI 22.7%
KTB 28.1%
FY24
CRI 21.2%
KTB 32.0%
FY25
CRI 11.9%
KTB 21.2%
CRI
KTB
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.