The Buckle, Inc.’s BKE soft comparable-store sales (comps) performance has been a concern for investors. Comps for the four-week period ended Aug 26, 2017 declined 7.9% year over year. The company’s comps have decreased 8.4% in July, 5.8% in June, 9% in May, 3.5% in April, 10.1% in March, 23.2% in February and 17.6% in January.
Buckle generated net sales of $80.3 million in August, down 7.9% year over year. Net sales decreased 9% in July, 5.9% in June, 8.8% in May, 3.9% in April, 10.1% in March, 23.3% in February and 17.2% in January.
Comps for the 30-week period ended Aug 26 declined 10%, while net sales decreased 10.1% to $488.2 million.
Buckle’s disappointing comps results is evident from its dismal run in the index. Shares of this retailer of casual apparel, footwear and accessories have plunged 36.2% year to date, wider than the industry’s decline of 30%.
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Sales at the company’s Men's category, which contributed nearly 51% to sales in August, tumbled 3% year over year. Moreover, it has not been able to revive the performance of struggling Women’s business. Sales in the Women’s category, which represented 49% of the company’s monthly sales, slumped 13.5% year over year.
On a combined basis, accessory sales, which constituted nearly 8.5% of the company’s August sales, dropped 10%. Footwear sales, which accounted for almost 5% of net sales, declined 2.5%.
As of Aug 31, 2017, Buckle operated 463 retail stores across 44 states.
Apart from Buckle, Costco Wholesale Corporation COST, The Cato Corporation CATO and L Brands, Inc. LB came out with comparable sales results for the month of August. While comparable sales for Costco increased 7.3% that of Cato and L Brands declined 10% and 4%, respectively.
Buckle currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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