For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – August 26, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares Carter's CRI as the Bull of the Day and Agnico Eagle Mines AEM as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Rocket Companies’ RKT, UWM Holdings Corp. UWMC and PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. PFSI.
Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:
Carter's, aZack Rank #1 (Strong Buy), is the leading marketer of children's apparel in the United States. The company is known for its namesake Carter's and OshKosh B'gosh brands sold through wholesale, retail, and e-commerce channels.
The company just delivered a beat-and-raise quarter, and the stock saw a healthy pullback from post-earnings highs. This is giving investors a shot at buying the dip at levels that have worked all year.
About the Company
Carter's is the market share leader in young children's apparel, built on a diversified wholesale, direct-to-consumer, and international business. New CEO Sharon Price John recently stepped into the role, inheriting a company with iconic, well-established brands and a business model built for durability across economic cycles.
The company is valued at $1.2 billion and has a forward PE of 10. The stock has Zacks Style Scores of "A" in Value, "C" in Growth, and "A" in Momentum.
Earnings Beat
Carter's posted Q2 EPS of $0.26, up from $0.17 in the year-ago quarter, and 1200% above estimates. Revenue came in at $615 million, up from $585 million last year. Adjusted operating income jumped to $18 million from $11.8 million, with margin expanding to 2.9% from 2.0%.
Management pointed to improved marketing, early productivity gains, and continued strength in the Baby segment as the drivers. U.S. retail comps grew 5%, marking a third straight quarter of net sales growth, while e-commerce comps posted double-digit growth for a fourth consecutive quarter.
Guidance Hiked
Management guided Q3 EPS to $0.85, a big step up from $0.02 in the prior-year period. Revenue is expected around $750 million, roughly flat y/y. The company narrowed its FY26 sales growth outlook to 2-3% and improved its adjusted EPS outlook to a high-single-digit to low-double-digit decline. This is a meaningful upgrade from the prior forecast of a low-double-digit to mid-teens decline.
Operating cash flow guidance was raised to $230-240 million, and capex guidance was lowered to roughly $50 million. Tariff costs are now tracking about $75 million below original assumptions, giving the company room to breathe on the cost side even as some benefit gets offset by softer wholesale volume.
Estimates Moving Higher
Analyst sentiment has moved higher, with every revision over the last 60 days pointing up and none pointing down.
The current quarter estimate has climbed to $0.85 from $0.77, or 10%. The current year number has moved to $3.28 from $3.09 over the same period, while next year's estimate has risen to $3.44 from $3.25.
This has reversed a trend that saw estimates going lower, which can still be seen over the last 90 days for the next quarter.
The Technical Take
The stock has been out of favor in recent years and hit decade lows last year. But CRI has been seeing strong support in the lows $30s all year.
CRI dropped saw volatile trade after earnings, moving down to $36 and then bouncing to $41 before slowly selling off to the $34 area. This has been a nice level of support and investors that like the earnings story can nibble between $31 and $34. This is a long-term Fibonacci support level that looks to be holding up.
This pullback, like the others before it, looks technical rather than fundamental, coming even as estimates continue to climb.
In Summary
Carter's delivered a clean beat-and-raise quarter, backed it up with improving guidance across nearly every metric. The company is also seeing estimates move up in unison across every timeframe.
With the stock resting at a support level that has held throughout the year, this pullback looks like an opportunity rather than a warning sign.
Agnico Eagle Mines, a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) is one of the world's premier gold producers, running a high-quality portfolio of long-life, low-cost mines across Canada, Finland, Mexico, and Australia.
The company just posted a genuinely strong quarter, but with gold's monster rally already priced deep into the stock and estimates trending lower, this looks like a name where investors should exercise caution rather than chase.
About the Company
Agnico Eagle is a gold miner built around a portfolio of flagship assets including Canadian Malartic, Detour Lake, Fosterville, and the emerging Hope Bay project.
The company has built a reputation for disciplined capital allocation and operational execution, with a long growth runway from organic exploration rather than acquisitions.
The company is valued at $110 billion and has a forward PE of 19. The stock has Zacks Style Scores of "D" in Value, "A" in Growth, and "C" in Momentum.
Earnings Beat, But Costs Are Rising
AEM reported Q2 EPS of $3.05, ahead of the $2.89 estimate. Revenue came in at $3.80 billion, just short of the $3.86 billion consensus. Adjusted EBITDA jumped to $2.74 billion from $1.91 billion a year ago, and the company returned a record $625 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.
Payable gold production came in at 855,000 ounces, slightly below last year's 866,000.
Management raised full-year capex guidance to $2.6-2.8 billion from $2.2-2.4 billion, and a rock movement at the Barnat pit is now expected to push full-year production toward the low end of the 3.3-3.5 million ounce guidance range, with roughly 370,000 ounces considered inaccessible until remediation wraps up in the fourth quarter.
Analyst Estimates Are Sliding
Unlike a name riding pure upward momentum, the revisions picture here has turned negative.
Over the last 30 days, two estimates for the current quarter moved lower against just one higher, and the current year saw four downward revisions against two upward.
Over 60 days the trend is even more lopsided, with five downward revisions to the current quarter estimate and nine to the current year figure, against no upward moves in either window.
The current quarter estimate has fallen to $2.46 from $3.24 ninety days ago, the current year number has dropped to $11.56 from $13.14, and next year's estimate has slipped to $11.24 from $13.39.
Technicals
Gold's powerful rally this year has lifted the entire mining complex, and AEM has been a prime beneficiary. But when gold pulled back, so did AEM, moving from $255 to $135.
But since late July the stock has rallied 90 points off those lows, pushing the stock to levels that now reflect a great deal of good news already.
With shares having run hard alongside bullion, the risk is that any pause or pullback in gold prices, combined with rising capex and softer near-term production, could leave the stock vulnerable to a sharper correction than peers with cleaner estimate trends.
In Summary
Agnico Eagle remains a well-run company with a genuinely bright long-term growth story, but the combination of falling near-term estimates, higher capex guidance, and a stock that has already priced in much of gold's rally argues for caution here.
For investors looking for a gold play, the Zacks Rank #5 says look elsewhere.
Additional content:
How Will Redfin Settlement Open Growth Avenues for Rocket?
Rocket Companies’ Redfin has reached a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and five states over its multi-family rental-listing agreement with Zillow. For RKT, the key positive is that Redfin retains the core economics of the existing arrangement. Redfin will continue receiving Zillow’s rental inventory and renter-lead payments, retain the $100 million received under the original deal and maintain the partnership through at least 2030.
At the same time, Redfin gains greater flexibility to pursue growth independently. The settlement removes restrictions that had prevented it from competing directly with Zillow for multi-family advertisers. Redfin can now rebuild its rental advertising operations, establish direct relationships with property managers and generate leads through its own platform.
This is expected to broaden RKT’s revenue opportunities within the housing ecosystem. Redfin’s rental platforms, including Rent.com and ApartmentGuide.com, give Rocket access to consumers at an earlier stage of their housing journey. A stronger rental presence could help Rocket build relationships with renters who may eventually need mortgage, brokerage and other homeownership services.
The settlement also reduces a regulatory overhang linked to an agreement signed before Rocket acquired Redfin. While restarting the rental advertising business will require investment and execution, Redfin can pursue that opportunity without giving up the traffic and lead economics, supported by the Zillow partnership.
Overall, the outcome looks favorable for RKT. Rocket preserves the existing benefits of Redfin’s Zillow relationship while gaining a path to expand rental advertising and customer acquisition. If executed well, the added flexibility could strengthen Redfin’s monetization and support Rocket’s broader strategy of capturing customers across the homeownership lifecycle.
How RKT Stacks Up Against Peers
Other mortgage players, including UWM Holdings Corp. and PennyMac Financial Services, Inc., continue to focus primarily on strengthening their mortgage origination and servicing businesses.
UWM remains a major force in the wholesale mortgage channel, while PennyMac maintains a sizable presence across mortgage production and servicing. In comparison, Rocket’s Redfin ownership gives it greater exposure to consumers earlier in the housing journey.
Expanding Redfin’s rental business could further differentiate RKT by creating another channel to attract customers before they enter the mortgage market.
Rocket’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank
So far this year, RKT shares have lost 27.2% compared with the industry’s 35.2% decline.
Currently, Rocket carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM): Free Stock Analysis Report
Rocket Companies, Inc. (RKT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Carter's, Inc. (CRI): Free Stock Analysis Report
PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. (PFSI): Free Stock Analysis Report
UWM Holdings Corporation (UWMC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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