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Buckle Inc. (BKE) reported strong financial results for the second quarter of 2025, surpassing analyst expectations with an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.89 against a forecast of $0.80. The company also reported revenue of $305.7 million, exceeding the expected $292.61 million. Following the announcement, Buckle’s stock rose 1.08% in pre-market trading, reaching $55.44. According to InvestingPro analysis, the stock appears slightly overvalued at current levels, with impressive gross profit margins of 59.03% and a P/E ratio of 14.19.
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Key Takeaways
- Buckle’s Q2 EPS of $0.89 exceeded forecasts by 11.25%.
- Revenue increased by 8.3% year-over-year to $305.7 million.
- The company’s stock price increased by 1.08% in pre-market trading.
- Online sales surged 17.7%, reaching $43.6 million.
- Gross margin improved by 50 basis points to 47.4%.
Company Performance
Buckle demonstrated robust performance in Q2 2025, driven by strong sales across its product lines. The company’s net income rose to $45 million from $39.3 million in the same quarter last year. This growth was supported by an increase in comparable store sales of 7.3% and a significant 17.7% rise in online sales. With a strong return on equity of 45% and healthy current ratio of 2.09, Buckle’s financial position remains solid as it continues expanding its women’s and kids’ product lines.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue: $305.7 million, up 8.3% year-over-year
- Earnings per share: $0.89, up from $0.78 in the previous year
- Gross margin: 47.4%, a 50 basis point increase
- Operating margin: 18.4%, up from 17.1%
Earnings vs. Forecast
Buckle’s actual earnings per share of $0.89 surpassed the forecasted $0.80 by 11.25%. The revenue of $305.7 million also exceeded expectations by 4.47%. This strong performance marks a continuation of Buckle’s positive trend, with the company consistently beating earnings estimates in recent quarters.
Market Reaction
Following the earnings announcement, Buckle’s stock price rose 1.08% in pre-market trading to $55.44. This increase reflects investor confidence in the company’s ability to exceed market expectations. The stock’s performance remains strong, trading just 0.95% below its 52-week high of $57.53, with a remarkable 42.95% total return over the past year.
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Outlook & Guidance
Looking forward, Buckle remains optimistic about its growth prospects. The company plans to open four additional stores and complete 12 remodeling projects. It continues to invest in digital commerce, aiming to enhance customer experience and drive online sales growth. Buckle’s future EPS forecasts for the upcoming quarters suggest continued profitability, with projections of $0.88 for Q3 and $1.44 for Q4 of FY2026. The company maintains an attractive dividend yield of 7.11%, having consistently paid dividends for 23 consecutive years.
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Executive Commentary
"We are excited to see the increased awareness and continued growth for our kids selection," stated Adam Ackerson, VP of Finance. Tom Hecock, CFO, added, "Anytime you can grow merchandise margins up at record levels, we’re certainly pleased with that." These comments underscore Buckle’s strategic focus on expanding its product offerings and improving profitability.
Risks and Challenges
- Supply Chain Issues: Potential disruptions could impact inventory levels and sales.
- Market Saturation: Expansion in saturated markets may limit growth opportunities.
- Macroeconomic Pressures: Economic downturns could affect consumer spending.
- Tariff Impacts: Minimal tariff effects are expected, but changes could alter cost structures.
- Competition: Intense competition in the retail sector may pressure margins.
Q&A
During the earnings call, analysts inquired about merchandise margin expansion and occupancy expense increases. Buckle’s management clarified their strategies for managing these costs while continuing to invest in digital commerce to support future growth.
Full transcript - The Buckle Inc (BKE) Q2 2026:
Conference Operator: Good morning. Thank you for standing by, and welcome to Buckle’s second quarter earnings release webcast. As a reminder, all participants are currently in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will be conducted following the company’s prepared remarks with instructions given at that time. Members of Buckle’s management on the call today are Dennis Nelson, president and CEO Tom Hecock, senior vice president of finance, treasurer, and CFO Adam Akerson, vice president of finance and corporate controller and Brady Fritz, senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary.
Before beginning, the company would like to reiterate its policy of not providing future sales or earnings guidance. All forward looking statements made on the call are pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially due to risks and uncertainties described in the company’s SEC filings. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements except as required by law. Additionally, the company does not authorize the reproduction or dissemination of transcripts or audio recordings of the company’s quarterly conference calls without expressed written consent.
Any unauthorized reproductions or recordings of the calls should not be relied upon as the information may be inaccurate. As a reminder, today’s webcast is being recorded. And I’d now like to turn the conference over to your host, Tom Heacock.
Tom Hecock, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer, and CFO, Buckle: Good morning, and thanks for joining us this morning. Our 08/22/2025 press release reported that net income for the thirteen week second quarter ended 08/02/2025, was $45,000,000 or $0.89 per share on a diluted basis, which compares to net income of $39,300,000 or $0.78 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year thirteen week second quarter, which ended 08/03/2024. Year to date net income for the twenty six week period ended 08/02/2025, was $80,200,000 or $1.59 per share on a diluted basis, which compares to net income of 74,100,000.0 or $1.48 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year twenty six week period ended 08/03/2024. Net sales for the thirteen week second quarter increased 8.3% to $305,700,000 compared to net sales of $282,400,000 for the prior year thirteen week second quarter. Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 7.3% in comparison to the same thirteen week period in the prior year, and online sales increased 17.7% to $43,600,000 Year to date, net sales increased 6.1% to $577,900,000 compared to net sales of $544,900,000 for the prior year twenty six week fiscal period.
Comparable store sales for the year to date period increased 5.2% in comparison to the same twenty six week period in the prior year, and our online sales increased 10.5% to $90,000,000 For the quarter, UPTs decreased approximately 1.5%, the average unit retail increased approximately 3%, and the average transaction value increased about 1.5%. Year to date, UPTs decreased approximately 1%, the average unit retail increased approximately 2%, and the average transaction value increased approximately 1.5%. Gross margin for the quarter was 47.4%, a 50 basis point increase from 46.9% in the 2024. The current quarter margin expansion was the result of a 10 basis point increase in merchandise margin, along with 40 basis points of leverage buying, distribution and occupancy expenses. Year to date gross margin was 47.1%, up 60 basis points from 46.5% for the same period in the prior year.
And the year to date increase was the result of a 30 basis point increase in merchandise margin, along with 30 basis points of leverage buying, distribution and occupancy expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter were 29% of sales compared to 29.8 for the 2024. And year to date SG and A was 29.8% of sales compared to 29.9% for the same period in the prior year. The second quarter decrease was due to a 65 basis point reduction related to nonrecurring digital commerce investments made a year ago, a 45 basis point decrease in store labor related expenses and a 55 basis point decrease in other SG and A expense categories. And these increases were partially offset by an 85 basis point increase in incentive compensation accruals.
Our operating margin for the quarter was 18.4% compared to 17.1% for the 2024. And for the year to date period, our operating margin was 17.3% compared to 16.6% for the same period last year. Income tax expense as a percentage of pretax net income for both the current and prior year fiscal quarter was 24.5%, bringing second quarter net income to $45,000,000 for fiscal twenty twenty five compared to $39,300,000 for fiscal twenty twenty four. Income tax expense as a percentage of pretax net income for both the current and prior year year to date periods was also 24.5%, bringing year to date net income to 80,200,000 for fiscal twenty twenty five compared to $74,100,000 for fiscal twenty twenty four. Our press release also included a balance sheet as of 08/02/2025, which included the following: inventory of 142,500,000 which was up 8.4% from the same time a year ago and $349,600,000 of total cash and investments.
We ended the quarter with $158,800,000 in fixed assets net of accumulated depreciation. Our capital expenditures for the quarter were $12,000,000 and depreciation expense was $6,100,000 For the year to date period, capital expenditures were $23,400,000 and depreciation expense was $12,000,000 Year to date capital spending is broken down as follows: $20,200,000 for new store construction, store remodels and technology upgrades and $3,200,000 for capital spending at the corporate headquarters and distribution center. During the quarter, we opened two new stores, completed four full store remodels, one of which was a relocation into a new outdoor shopping center and closed one store, which brings our year to date counts to two new stores, nine full remodels and three store closures. For the remainder of the year, we now anticipate opening four additional new stores and completing 12 more full remodeling projects. Buckle ended the quarter with four forty retail stores in 42 states, which is consistent with the store count as of a year ago.
And now I’ll turn it over to Adam Ackerson, Vice President of Finance.
Adam Ackerson, Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller, Buckle: Thanks, Tom, and good morning. Our women’s business growth accelerated from the prior quarter with merchandise sales increasing about 18.5% against prior year, representing approximately 47.5% of sales, which compares to 43.5% last year. Growth in the women’s business continues to be anchored in the performance of our denim category. For the quarter, women’s denim increased approximately 20.5%, with average denim price points increasing from $80.6 in the 2024 to $85.35 in the 2025. This AUR increase continues to be the result of strong growth in our buckled black label, which has outperformed the total denim business, along with strong growth of other higher price point national brands.
Through the second quarter, there have been minimal AUR impacts as a result of tariffs. Complementing our strong women’s denim selection, our merchandising team continued to evolve our strategy of customer centric buying, sharpening their focus on key styles, brands and trends, which has resulted in strong guest response. This strategy delivered double digit growth in every category with the exception of shorts, which still saw nice growth for the quarter. In total, average women’s price points increased about 5% from $43.15 to $45.35 On the men’s side, we were pleased to see the business return to growth for the quarter with merchandise sales up about 1.5 against the prior year, representing approximately 52.5% of total sales, which compares to 56.5% in the prior year. This growth was led by our denim our men’s denim category, which was up about 4.5% for the quarter.
Average denim price points increased from $89.2 in the 2024 to $89.3 in the 2025. In other categories, we saw strong performance in our short sleeve wovens, polos, denim shorts, hats and fragrance selections. For the quarter, overall average men’s price points increased approximately 2% from $50.2 to $51.2 On a combined basis, accessory sales for the quarter increased approximately 9.5% against the prior year, while footwear sales were down about 0.5%. These two categories accounted for approximately 11.55%, respectively, of the second quarter net sales, which compares to 11.55.5% for each in the 2024. For the quarter, average accessory price points were up approximately 3%, and average footwear price points were up about 8%.
Also on a combined basis, our kids business had an outstanding summer and start to the back to the school season, increasing approximately 23 year over year. We are excited to see the increased awareness and continued growth for our kids selection, which grew to approximately 4.5% of our total business for the quarter. For the quarter, denim accounted for approximately 36% of sales and tops accounted for approximately 29.5%, which compares to 35.530% for each in the 2024. And for the tenth consecutive quarter, private label continued to grow as an overall percentage of our mix. For the quarter, private label represented 43.5% of sales versus 43% in the 2024.
And with that, we welcome your questions.
Conference Operator: Thank you. As a reminder for participants, if you would like to ask a question, please raise your hand in the Zoom app. Prior to asking your question, please state your name and firm affiliation. Our first question is from Mauricio. Mauricio, I’ll go ahead and prompt you to unmute at this time.
Mauricio, Analyst: Great. Good morning. Can you hear me okay?
Dennis Nelson, President and CEO, Buckle: Yes. Yes. Thank you.
Mauricio, Analyst: Great. Thanks for taking my questions. I guess just on the merchandise margin expansion. Can you elaborate a little bit more on the drivers behind it? It seems, I think, relative to the prior quarter, it decelerated.
So just wondering there if there’s like any impact that you’re seeing from tariffs already in your margins.
Tom Hecock, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer, and CFO, Buckle: Mauricio, thanks for the question. This is Tom. I’ll take the first part and then let Dennis talk a little bit more about kind of vendors and how we’re dealing with tariffs. But I mean, anytime you look at the first quarter, second quarter a year ago and the comparisons were up against, anytime you can grow merchandise margins up of record levels, we’re certainly pleased with that. The team did a really nice job of maintaining really strong full regular price selling.
And so again, pleased to be able to grow that even if not at the same rate in Q2 as it was in Q1. I think the biggest driver of why we didn’t see that same growth rate in Q2 compared to Q1 is really probably tied to private label. Private label as an I mean, a percentage of the mix was down in q two one q two compared to q one, which is kind of the natural cycle. And then now looking at the year over year growth in the the percentage of the mix that’s private label slowed a little bit as well just with the the strong selling of of some of our nationally branded products. So let Dennis talk about tariffs.
Dennis Nelson, President and CEO, Buckle: Good morning. On the tariffs, we continue to see kind of the same as earlier, at least as of today, where we’re seeing low to mid single digits on average on cost increase. You know, we have several vendors. We have such a wide range of vendors, but several, we’re not seeing any increase. We have starting to see with select brands a few higher, single digit increase on cost.
But probably the average overall is in the low to mid single digit cost increase, that we’re seeing going forward.
Mauricio, Analyst: Got it. Very helpful. Just one, if I could elaborate on the other part of the gross margin where you had 40 basis points of leverage on buying occupancy and distribution. Just wondering, like, I would have maybe thought that it would have been like a higher leverage just given how the how strong the comps were in the quarter. Any particular, you know, line item within, you know, buying occupancy or distribution where maybe there’s been a little bit of more expense happening that, you know, maybe didn’t let that leverage flow through?
Thank you.
Tom Hecock, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer, and CFO, Buckle: Yeah. Thank you, Mauricio. Really, the driver there is is occupancy expense, and so we saw the growth in in occupancy expense tick up in in q two compared to q one. So Q2 increased about 5.5% for occupancy expense compared to about 3.5 in Q1. And really, that’s related to the store projects we’re doing, the new store openings, the remodels where we’re moving out of a lot of malls and into to better locations off mall.
So that’s driven base rent up. And then with the strong sales performance in q two, we also saw an uptick in percentage rent with with several of our stores.
Mauricio, Analyst: Understood. Thank you so much.
Conference Operator: As a reminder for participants, if you would like to ask a question, please raise your hand in the Zoom app. Prior to asking a question, please state your name and firm affiliation. There are no further questions in queue. As a reminder, if you’d like to ask a question, please raise your hand in the Zoom app. Okay.
Looks like we have another question from Mauricio. Mauricio, go ahead and ask you to unmute at this time.
Mauricio, Analyst: Great. I guess just a a quick follow-up on the SG and A when you were breaking down the components of the change in the as a percentage of sales. I just wanted to make sure the 65 basis points from nonrecurring digital investments, is this just like a so it’s a lapping from last year, I suppose. Is this just happened on the second quarter? Or just as a reminder, is this could that be like maybe like another quarter where we’re also lapping that in Q3 three or something like that.
Tom Hecock, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer, and CFO, Buckle: Yeah. That does does flow into the third quarter as well. So we talked a lot about, you know, our our focus on digital, focus on growing ecom a year ago, and so brought in consultants and third parties and really put a lot of effort around improving the buckle.com experience, and and that started late in q one, but but really picked up in q two and into q three. So so we’ll continue to see some benefit there in q three as well.
Mauricio, Analyst: Thank you so much.
Conference Operator: Okay. There are no further questions. I will now turn the call back over to Buckle for any closing remarks.
Tom Hecock, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer, and CFO, Buckle: There are no questions, further questions. We’ll wrap it up quick today. And and thanks everyone for participation or your participation today, and have a great day, and enjoy your weekend.
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