Gildan Activewear, Inc. GIL

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
69/100
Moderate

Ranked against 25 peers in Apparel Manufacturing

About Gildan Activewear, Inc.

Gildan Activewear Inc. manufactures and sells various apparel products. The company provides various activewear products, including T-shirts, fleece tops and bottoms, sports shirts, polos, and tank tops under Gildan, Hanes, Gildan Performance, Gildan Hammer, Gildan Softstyle, Gildan Heavy Cotton, Gildan Ultra Cotton, Gildan DryBlend, Gildan HeavyBlend, Comfort Colors, American Apparel, ALLPRO, ComfortWash, BEEFY, Bonds and Champion brands. It also offers … Full GIL analysis →

Key strengths

  • Cost Leadership Position Operating margin at 100.0th percentile with strong OpEx control demonstrates cost leadership.
  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.88), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.

Key risks

  • Elevated Debt Risk Debt serviceability is weak (score 0.38), raising refinancing risk.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
70
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where GIL ranks in Apparel Manufacturing

Gildan Activewear, Inc. ranks #4 of 26 scored companies in Apparel Manufacturing by moat score — the top 15%. The widest moat in the group is Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) at 83/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
1 Ralph Lauren Corporation RL 83/100 Strong
2 Kontoor Brands, Inc. KTB 73/100 Moderate
3 Levi Strauss & Co LEVI 69/100 Moderate
4 Gildan Activewear, Inc. GIL 69/100 Moderate
5 Ermenegildo Zegna N.V. ZGN 68/100 Moderate
6 FIGS, Inc. FIGS 67/100 Moderate
7 Columbia Sportswear Company COLM 67/100 Moderate
8 PVH Corp. PVH 64/100 Moderate
9 Canada Goose Holdings Inc. Subo GOOS 61/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How GIL scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 70 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 100 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 76 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 67 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 57 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 47 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding GIL's moat

What is Gildan Activewear, Inc.'s moat score?

Gildan Activewear, Inc. (GIL) scores 68 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #4 of 26 scored companies in Apparel Manufacturing, the top 15%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 25 companies in Apparel Manufacturing. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (100/100) and its weakest is Scale & Market Position (47/100).

How does Gildan Activewear, Inc. compare with other Apparel Manufacturing companies?

Gildan Activewear, Inc. ranks #4 of 26 scored companies in Apparel Manufacturing by moat score. The widest moat in Apparel Manufacturing is Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) at 83/100. The companies ranked closest are Levi Strauss & Co (LEVI) at 69 just above it and Ermenegildo Zegna N.V. (ZGN) at 68 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 25 companies in Apparel Manufacturing. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Gildan Activewear, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Gildan Activewear, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and GIL scores: Pricing Power (70), Cost Advantage (100), Customer Stickiness (76), Capital Efficiency (67), Resilience (57), Scale & Market Position (47). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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