The Buckle, Inc. (BKE – Free Report) has been witnessing strength across its men’s and women’s businesses as well as in the accessory category for a while. In addition, BKE’s online wing is consistently showing impressive performance. These factors are aiding BKE’s sales.
Last month, Buckle released its second-quarter fiscal 2022 results, wherein net sales inch up 2.3% year over year to $302 million and also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $300 million. Comparable store net sales (comps) for the 13-week period ended Jul 30, 2022, rose 1.6% year over year. Online sales also climbed 6.5% to $46.2 million in the reported quarter.
Shares of this on-trend apparel, accessories and footwear retailer have gained 0.5% in the past three months against the industry’s 11.5% decline. Let’s delve deeper.
August Data
We note that comps for the four-week period ended Aug 27, 2022, grew 4.6% year over year. This followed comps increases of 1.8% and 5.3% for July and May, respectively, while the metric dipped 1.7% in June. Total net sales jumped 5.8% to $118 million for the month under discussion from $111.6 million reported in the prior-year four-week period ended Aug 28, 2021. Sales increased 4.2% in July and 5.1% in May. However, the metric slipped 1.5% in June.
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This Kearney, NE-based entity witnessed increases in both the men’s and women’s sides of the business. While accessory was the bright spot, the footwear category struggled. On the men’s and women’s sides of the business, total sales increased 8% and 1.5%, respectively, for the four-week period ended Jul 30, 2022. While the men’s business contributed to 54.5% of total sales, the women’s business accounted for 45.5%. For the fiscal month, overall price points on the men’s and women’s sides of the business were up 5% and 6.5%, respectively.
On combining the men’s and women’s categories, accessory sales for August 2022 climbed 12.5%. However, footwear sales dropped 9.5% for the same period. The accessory and footwear categories accounted for 9% and 7%, respectively, of the current fiscal August net sales. Average accessory price points increased 10.5%, while average footwear price points rose 1.5% for the same fiscal month.
What’s More?
This presently Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) player currently operates 442 retail stores in 42 states. During the second quarter of fiscal 2022, Buckle opened two new stores and completed seven remodels, five of which were relocated to the new outdoor shopping centers. For the rest of the current fiscal year, management expects completing 11 additional full remodeling projects as well as inaugurating two additional stores.
We note that the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Buckle’s current financial year sales and earnings per share (EPS) is pegged at $1.38 billion and $5.39, respectively. These estimates suggest growth of 6.8% and 4.5%, respectively, from the corresponding year-ago reported figures.
3 More Retail Stocks to Bet on
We highlighted three other top-ranked stocks in the Retail – Wholesale sector, namely Technoglass (TGLS – Free Report) , Ulta Beauty (ULTA – Free Report) and CVS Health (CVS – Free Reports) .
Tecnoglass manufactures and sells architectural glass and aluminum products for the residential and commercial construction industries. TGLS currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Technoglass’ current financial-year sales and earnings per share suggests growth of 28.2% and 47.7%, respectively, from the corresponding year-ago reported figures. TGLS has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 24.4%, on average.
Ulta Beauty, a leading beauty retailer in the United States, currently has a Zacks Rank of 2. ULTA has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 49.8%, on average.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ulta Beauty’s current financial-year sales suggests growth of 10.4% from the corresponding year-ago reported figure. ULTA has an expected EPS growth rate of 10.7% for three-five years.
CVS Health, a pharmacy innovation company with integrated offerings across the entire spectrum of pharmacy care, currently has a Zacks Rank of 2. CVS has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.7%, on average. Shares of CVS have risen 7% in the past three months.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVS Health’s current financial-year sales and earnings per share suggests growth of 6.6% and 1.1%, respectively, from the corresponding year-ago reported numbers. CVS has an expected EPS growth rate of 7.7% for three-five years.