Carter's shares climb after 4Q results

Shares of Carter's Inc. climbed Wednesday, a day after the children's clothier posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter sales.

The Atlanta-based retailer, which operates its namesake stores and OshKosh, said revenue grew 7 percent to $422 million from $393.4 million in the year-ago period, and beat analysts' estimate of $413.3 million in sales.

The company's profit slipped 4 percent to $27.3 million, or 47 cents per share. During the same period last year the company earned from $28.6 million, or 48 cents per share.

Wall Street analysts were targeting a profit of 47 cents per share, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Carter's executives said their sales were helped by the fact that 80 percent of items sold in its stores are priced at $10 or less, making them sought after during the recession.

"Over the past eight weeks we've met with most of our top customers and they've told us that Carter's and OshKosh stood out as some of the best-performing brands in their stores," Chief Executive Mike Casey said during a conference call with investors. "I asked one of our customers why she thought we were doing do so well. She believed in uncertain times consumers are drawn to the brands they know stand for quality."

Standard & Poor's Equity Research analyst Marie Driscoll maintained a "Hold" rating on Carter's after the results, saying she believed the company had an opportunity to boost its market share in the next several years as the company doubles the number of shops that sell clothing just for newborns, infants and toddlers.

Carter's shares rose $1.52, or 10.5, to close at $15.94.