Buckle (BKE) Showcases Dismal Comps Performance in November
Buckle, Inc. BKE disappointed investors with its comparable store net sales (comps) performance. After retaining a positive trend for three straight months, comps for the four-week period (ended Nov 30, 2019) fell 1.6%. The metric improved 8.5%, 3% and 3.1% in October, September and August, respectively. Net sales for November declined 1.8% year over year to $79.8 million.
Management highlighted that on account of later Thanksgiving holiday this year, Cyber Monday shifted from fiscal November in 2018 to fiscal December in 2019. This led to a decline in online sales for the month under review, which hurt both total sales and comps. Excluding online sales, brick and mortar comps for the four-week period (ended Nov 30, 2019) advanced 2.4%.
In the month under review, total sales at the men’s unit decreased 2% year over year. The same contributed 55.5% to the company’s monthly revenues. Sales in the women’s category, which represented 44.5% of monthly sales, declined 1.5% year over year.
With men’s and women’s categories combined, accessory sales in November edged down 0.5%. However, footwear sales rose 18.5% from the year-ago figure.
Further, the company reported sales numbers for the 43-week period ended Nov 30. Comps for the said period increased 1.4% year over year and net sales improved 1% to $709.1 million.
Currently, Buckle operates 449 retail stores across 42 states.
The company is on track with growth efforts — including enhancing marketing efficiency, store remodeling and technology upgrades. These are likely to aid Buckle’s performance in the forthcoming period, thereby boosting investors’ sentiments. In the past three months, shares of the Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) company have gained 30.5%, outperforming the industry’s growth of 3.5%.
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