Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE: GIL; TSX: GIL) is getting fresh attention on December 16, 2025, as investors weigh a newly bullish analyst call against the very real work of integrating a newly acquired apparel giant. Shares were trading around $62.79 on Tuesday, up about 4.7% on the day at the time of the latest trade, after moving between roughly $59.98 and $63.39 intraday.
The immediate spark: UBS raised its price target to $110 from $80 and reiterated a Buy rating, pointing to scale benefits from the HanesBrands combination, potential margin expansion, and optionality around HanesBrands’ Australia business. [1]
Below is what’s driving Gildan stock today, what analysts are forecasting after the deal, and what catalysts (and risks) matter next.
What’s moving Gildan stock today
1) A major price-target jump from UBS
A UBS note circulating Tuesday lifted Gildan’s price target to $110 (from $80) while keeping a bullish rating. The logic is straightforward: Gildan’s low-cost, vertically integrated manufacturing model plus HanesBrands’ brand portfolio and retail reach could support faster growth and stronger margins than either company could generate alone. [2]
UBS also highlighted a potential strategic lever: Gildan is exploring strategic alternatives for the HanesBrands Australia business, and a possible sale by FY26 could help deleveraging and eventually support the resumption of share buybacks, according to the note. [3]
2) The post-merger “now show me” phase is underway
Gildan completed its acquisition of HanesBrands on December 1, 2025, creating what it describes as a global apparel leader. Management has emphasized execution: integrating operations and capturing at least $200 million in run‑rate cost synergies. That synergy target is now one of the market’s clearest scorecards for 2026. [4]
3) A technical setup investors are watching closely
Technical traders are also paying attention. Investor’s Business Daily recently flagged Gildan’s Relative Strength (RS) Rating moving into the 80+ range and noted the stock approaching a potential breakout level around $62.56, a price zone traders often treat as a “decision point.” [5]
HanesBrands deal: what changed, and what investors will demand next
The HanesBrands acquisition is not just another bolt-on purchase. It’s a “scale event” that reshapes Gildan’s profile:
- Deal completion: Gildan officially closed the acquisition on December 1, 2025. [6]
- Synergy target: Management reiterated a plan to deliver at least $200 million in run‑rate cost synergies. [7]
- Strategic review angle: Gildan has signaled a review of strategic alternatives for HanesBrands Australia (including potential sale scenarios), an idea that also appears in analyst commentary today. [8]
How the deal was financed (and why that matters for the stock)
Integration stories always come with a balance-sheet subplot. According to an Investing.com recap based on an SEC filing, Gildan financed the transaction using:
- a new $1.1 billion term loan facility,
- a $1.2 billion private offering of senior unsecured notes completed October 7, 2025,
- plus cash on hand. [9]
That financing structure helps explain why “deleveraging” keeps showing up in post-deal commentary: higher interest expense and leverage discipline can directly influence how quickly Gildan can resume aggressive buybacks or step up shareholder returns.
Index and ticker housekeeping around the merger
Following the merger, HanesBrands took steps to suspend and remove its common stock from NYSE listing and indicated an intent to deregister and suspend SEC reporting obligations, according to the same Investing.com/SEC-file-based summary. [10]
In parallel, S&P Dow Jones Indices communications around index changes indicated First Interstate BancSystem would replace HanesBrands in the S&P SmallCap 600 effective prior to the open on December 2, 2025, explicitly because HanesBrands was being acquired by Gildan. While that’s more about HBI than GIL, index reconstitutions can influence short-term flows and attention around corporate actions. [11]
Earnings and guidance: what Gildan said before the deal closed
The most recent major financial anchor for investors remains Gildan’s Q3 2025 report (quarter ended September 28, 2025), released October 29, 2025.
Q3 highlights
Gildan reported:
- Record net sales of $911 million
- Operating margin of 21.1% and adjusted operating margin of 23.2%
- GAAP diluted EPS of $0.80 and record adjusted diluted EPS of $1.00 [12]
Category detail in the earnings release showed:
- Activewear sales up 5.4% (to $771 million)
- Hosiery & underwear sales down 22.1% (to $80 million)
- International sales down 6.1% (to $60 million) [13]
Gross margin improved to 33.7% in the quarter, up from 31.2% a year earlier, attributed largely to lower manufacturing costs, pricing actions tied to tariff impacts, and lower raw material costs (among other factors). [14]
Updated full-year 2025 guidance (pre-HanesBrands consolidation)
In that October release, Gildan updated FY2025 outlook to:
- Mid-single-digit revenue growth
- Adjusted operating margin up ~70 bps (vs. prior guidance of ~50 bps)
- Capex ~4% of sales (down from prior guidance of ~5%)
- Adjusted diluted EPS $3.45 to $3.51
- Free cash flow ~ $400 million (down from “above $450 million”) [15]
Two guidance details mattered especially for capital-allocation watchers:
- Gildan noted no share repurchases for the remainder of 2025, tied to the announced HanesBrands transaction at the time. [16]
- The company explicitly said its 2025 outlook did not take into account the planned HanesBrands combination (because the deal hadn’t closed yet). [17]
Leverage position heading into the acquisition
As of the end of Q3 2025, Gildan reported net debt of $1,741 million and a leverage ratio of 2.0x net debt to trailing twelve months adjusted EBITDA, which it described as the midpoint of its targeted range. [18]
That’s useful context for today’s investor debate: the merger adds earnings power potential, but also adds financing complexity—and the market tends to reward acquirers who hit synergy goals and keep leverage under control.
Analyst forecasts on Dec. 16, 2025: price targets, EPS expectations, and the “merger math” problem
With the acquisition now closed, forecasts for 2026 and beyond are where the market will spend most of its time—and where disagreement is widest.
Price targets: UBS is the high end, consensus sits in the mid-$70s
Across commonly cited consensus compilations:
- MarketBeat shows a consensus price target around $74.46 (with a stated low of $60 and high of $110). [19]
- StockAnalysis lists a consensus target around $73.86 and also shows the $110 high target tied to UBS’ Dec. 16 update. [20]
In plain English: the “typical” Street view implies mid-to-high teens upside from the low-$60s, while UBS is effectively arguing the market is still underpricing the combined company’s earnings power and strategic optionality. [21]
Where other major targets sit (recent history)
StockAnalysis’ compilation lists several notable recent moves heading into the UBS call, including:
- Scotiabank moving $62 → $66 (Oct. 30, 2025)
- Barclays moving $64 → $70 (Oct. 30, 2025)
- RBC Capital moving $68 → $71 (Oct. 27, 2025) [22]
Revenue and EPS forecasts: the “doubling scale” effect shows up fast
One reason estimates look dramatic is the merger itself. StockAnalysis’ forecast table shows analysts modeling:
- revenue around $3.46B “this year,” and about $7.01B “next year,”
- with EPS rising from roughly 3.50 to 4.58. [23]
Those kinds of step-changes are typical when a large acquisition becomes consolidated—but they also amplify uncertainty: if integration frictions hit, synergy timing slips, or demand weakens, the “next year” base case can swing meaningfully.
MarketBeat’s earnings-focused page, for example, frames next-year EPS growth more conservatively (showing expectations rising from about $3.48 to $3.96), illustrating how forecast sets can diverge depending on methodology and which analyst estimates are included. [24]
Ownership and institutional positioning: a reminder that not everyone is chasing the rally
One of the “today” items making the rounds is a filing summary noting Cardinal Capital Management trimmed its Gildan position by about 0.8% in the third quarter, selling roughly 21,480 shares (while still holding over 2.7 million shares, per the write-up). It’s not necessarily a directional signal—institutions rebalance constantly—but it’s a useful reminder that even in bullish tape, some managers take money off the table or resize positions. [25]
Dividend and capital returns: steady, but buybacks are the big “when” question
Gildan’s shareholder return story has two levers: dividends and repurchases.
On the dividend side, Gildan’s investor materials show a $0.226 dividend with a record date of Nov. 19, 2025 and a payment date of Dec. 15, 2025. [26]
On buybacks, the company previously indicated no share repurchases for the remainder of 2025 in the context of the acquisition. That tees up a major 2026 narrative: how quickly can the combined company deleverage and restart repurchases, especially if assets like the Australia unit are monetized, as some analyst commentary suggests. [27]
What to watch next: catalysts and risks for GIL stock
Key upcoming catalysts
- Next earnings report: MarketBeat estimates Gildan’s next earnings date around Feb. 18, 2026 (before market open) based on historical schedules (not yet confirmed by the company on that page). [28]
- Integration milestones: management execution against the $200M+ run-rate synergy goal. [29]
- Portfolio decisions: any concrete update on strategic alternatives for HanesBrands Australia (retain, partner, sell, etc.). [30]
Main risks the market is pricing in (or should be)
- Integration risk: large apparel integrations are operationally messy—systems, sourcing, logistics, merchandising, channel strategy. Missing synergy timelines can compress the valuation multiple quickly. [31]
- Leverage/interest expense sensitivity: new debt facilities and notes raise the importance of cash generation and working-capital discipline. [32]
- Demand and category mix: Gildan’s Q3 showed strength in activewear, but weakness in hosiery/underwear; the combined portfolio may smooth that over time, but near-term category softness still matters. [33]
- Tariffs and input costs: management explicitly referenced tariff impacts and mitigation via pricing and operating flexibility—an area investors will keep monitoring. [34]
Bottom line on Dec. 16: Gildan stock is trading the “synergy plus optionality” story
As of December 16, 2025, Gildan Activewear stock (GIL) is moving on a combination of analyst enthusiasm—headlined by UBS’ $110 target—and the market’s ongoing reassessment of what the HanesBrands acquisition means for scale, margins, and capital returns.
The bull case is clean: execute integration, capture synergies, rationalize the portfolio (potentially including Australia), deleverage, and reopen the buyback spigot. The bear case is equally familiar: integration takes longer, debt feels heavier, and apparel demand remains uneven.
Either way, the next few quarters—starting with the next earnings window in early 2026—are likely to be where this story stops being a press release narrative and turns into measurable results.
References
1. www.tipranks.com, 2. www.tipranks.com, 3. www.tipranks.com, 4. gildancorp.com, 5. www.investors.com, 6. gildancorp.com, 7. gildancorp.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.investing.com, 10. www.investing.com, 11. www.nasdaq.com, 12. gildancorp.com, 13. gildancorp.com, 14. gildancorp.com, 15. gildancorp.com, 16. gildancorp.com, 17. gildancorp.com, 18. gildancorp.com, 19. www.marketbeat.com, 20. stockanalysis.com, 21. www.marketbeat.com, 22. stockanalysis.com, 23. stockanalysis.com, 24. www.marketbeat.com, 25. www.marketbeat.com, 26. gildancorp.com, 27. gildancorp.com, 28. www.marketbeat.com, 29. gildancorp.com, 30. www.reuters.com, 31. gildancorp.com, 32. www.investing.com, 33. gildancorp.com, 34. gildancorp.com
