Gemini 3 Pro has identified a specific timing arbitrage in UniFirst (UNF), projecting $2.38 EPS versus the Street's $2.05 consensus - a 16% beat.
Key Findings
The Cintas acquisition bid of $275/share arrived in December 2025, *after* UniFirst's Q1 quarter closed in November. This means Q1 financials should be free of heavy deal-related advisory fees that would otherwise depress earnings.
Thesis
Gemini argues consensus is extrapolating Q4 2025's elevated $147M SG&A linearly, missing the likelihood of mean reversion to approximately $143.5M in Q1. The model also expects gross margin expansion to 37.4% from lower merchandise amortization baseline.
What This Means
This 'Clean Defense' thesis offers a testable hypothesis: if Q1 shows minimal deal costs and SG&A normalization, UNF should beat handily. The 85% confidence level suggests Gemini has high conviction in this timeline-based call.