Is CATO halal?
Cato Corporation (The)
Not halal
Cato Corporation (The) did not pass AAOIFI screening. The failed check is shown below.
Checked: 13 October 2026
Exchange
NYSE
Price
2.35
Day
-0.42%
Market cap
$47.6M
Industry
Apparel Retail
Sector
Consumer Cyclical
What the company does
Cato Corporation runs ~1,100 value-priced women's fashion stores (Cato, Versona, It's Fashion), mostly in the US South. Revenue comes from store sales; the chain is shrinking.
What was checked
The AAOIFI standard has four steps: business activity first, then three financial ratios. Fail one and the stock is not halal.
Business activity
No prohibited activity
Interest-bearing debt / market cap
limit 30%
Interest-bearing debt $0 ÷ 36-month average market cap $84.75M = 0.0%
0.0%
Pass
Cash & investments / market cap
limit 30%
Cash + interest-bearing securities $93.77M ÷ 36-month average market cap $84.75M = 110.6%
110.6%
Fail
Non-compliant income / total revenue
limit 5%
Interest income $6.69M ÷ annual revenue $653.81M (2026) = 1.0%
1.0%
Pass
Figures from the company's filings (2026-07-31), USD. Market cap is a 36-month average (the S&P Shariah index approach), so a one-day price move does not flip the verdict. Today's market cap: $47.59M.
For information (AAOIFI 3/1 note): cash + receivables are 27.0% of total assets (2026-07-31). AAOIFI recommends tangible assets of at least one third — this figure does not affect the verdict, and other major screeners do not apply it either.
In the lists
- In the S&P 500
- Not in the S&P 500
- Held by funds
- Not held by any tracked fund
Superinvestors
SEC 13F, 2026 Q3. Up to 45 days delayed.Held by 1 superinvestors · Average reported price: $3.24
- Yacktman Asset Management$342K0.0%
Halal stocks in the same industry
The largest halal stocks in Apparel Retail — for comparison.
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- Halal investingBlogWhy a company's cash affects whether its stock is halalLots of cash sounds like a good sign — but halal screening checks it separately. What counts, what doesn't, and where we are stricter than AAOIFI.
- Halal investingBlogAAOIFI Shariah Standard No. 21 in plain languageThe most widely used standard for halal stock screening: the two-step test, the three ratios and how it differs from other methods.
Halal is the first question. The second: when to enter?
Our scanner watches 1454 halal stocks around the clock and fires a signal with entry, TP and SL when a technical setup completes. The full signal history — with outcomes — is public.
This is neither investment advice nor a fatwa. Screening is based on public financial statements and AAOIFI standard No. 21; data may lag. For a personal decision consult your own scholar.