Kansas City Capital Reiterates Perform Rating on Buckle, Inc. (BKE)

Kansas City Capital analyst Sandra L. Chism reiterated a Perform rating on Buckle, Inc. (NYSE: BKE).

The analyst comments "It was a solid quarter at BKE as improving comp store sales gains drove operating margins to levels higher than forecast. For the quarter, BKE reported EPS of $0.89 vs. $0.78 last year and vs. our estimate of $0.77. Revenues rose 8.3% to $305.7 million on a comparable store sales gain of 7.3% and ahead of the initial 4.0% forecast. The bottom-line “beat” reflected an improved gross margin of 47.4% vs. 46.9% last year and above the forecast of 47.1% Operating expense leverage drove most of the gross margin gain. Similarly, BKE’s SG&A expense ratio improved to 29.0% of sales from 29.9% last year and below our estimate of 30.4%. Some of that improvement reflected both a lapping of last year’s heavy IT spending and labor expense leveraging but then was partially offset by higher incentive compensation. Overall, operating margins of 18.4% were above the forecast of 17.8%. Revenue growth in the quarter was highlighted by much better performance in the women’s category. Women’s revenue rose nearly 18% in the quarter. Denim sales were strong (over 20%) as was private label sales. Men’s revenue was up modestly year-over-year but improved from a small year-over-year decline in the first quarter."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Buckle, Inc. click here. For more ratings news on Buckle, Inc. click here.

Shares of Buckle, Inc. closed at $60.25 yesterday.

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