The Buckle Shows Gains, Bucking Current Retail Trends

The Buckle Inc.’s sales momentum continued into January with the retailer reporting growth for the month and full year on Thursday.
Kearney, Neb.-based Buckle ended its fiscal year ended Jan. 28 with net sales of $1.3 billion, up 3.9% from the prior year. Same-store sales for the fiscal year rose 3.3% compared to the year-ago period.
The growth continued a mostly upward trajectory for Buckle, which has reported same-store and net sales increases in most of its monthly updates to the market for over a year now. Only three of the last 14 fiscal months have seen either declines on both measures and, in the case of last November, a decline in comparable store sales.
Shares of the retailer, which had a recent market cap of $2.2 billion, edged up nearly 1% in trading Thursday to close at $44.43.
The full-year results also came with a fiscal month update in which Buckle saw net sales for the four weeks ended Jan. 28 of $69.4 million, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier.
The retailer said same-store net sales for the same four-week period rose 6.1 percent from a year ago.
Men’s sales during this same fiscal month increased 4.5%, with price points up 1%.
Women’s sales rose 3.5%, with price points down “slightly,” according to a pre-recorded statement released Thursday by Vice President of Finance Adam Akerson.
Meanwhile, accessories jumped 26% for the four weeks ended Jan. 28 as footwear fell about 5.5%.
Akerson told analysts in November during the company’s third quarter earnings report that youth was Buckle’s fastest-growing segment for the second quarter in a row. Youth is still relatively small and accounted for about 4% of total company sales during that timeframe.
The company noted denim, wovens, outerwear, and accessories as being top categories in the October quarter.
Buckle operates 440 stores in 42 states.
