Buckle Q4 2025 Earnings Report

Buckle EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $1.53
• Consensus EPS: $1.44
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.09
• One Year Ago EPS: $1.59

Buckle Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $379.20 million
• Expected Revenue: $378.97 million
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$235.00 thousand
• YoY Revenue Growth: -0.80%

Buckle Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q4 2025
• Date: 3/14/2025
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Friday, March 14, 2025
• Conference Call Time: 10:00AM ET

Buckle (NYSE:BKE), Inc. is a retailer specializing in casual apparel, footwear and accessories for young men and women. The company is known for its denim-focused collections, offering both private-label lines and curated brand-name merchandise. Its product assortment includes jeans, tops, outerwear, shoes and a variety of accessories such as belts, jewelry and handbags, all aimed at blending contemporary style with everyday comfort.

Founded in 1948 in Kearney, Nebraska, Buckle began as a single clothing store and has since expanded into a nationwide chain. Over the decades, the company has grown through a combination of organic store openings and strategic site selections, moving from a regional presence to a coast-to-coast footprint. Despite this expansion, Buckle has maintained its Midwestern roots, keeping its corporate headquarters and primary distribution center in Kearney.

In addition to its brick-and-mortar network, Buckle operates an e-commerce platform that allows customers to shop its full assortment online. The website features new arrivals, exclusive web-only releases and a loyalty program designed to reward frequent shoppers. Store layouts emphasize a “free-to-shop” environment, with attentive sales associates supporting customers on the sales floor rather than traditional checkout-first models.

Buckle’s management team brings decades of retail and merchandising experience to its operations, focusing on trend-driven inventory planning and customer service. With a concentration on merchandising innovation and targeted marketing efforts, the company continues to adapt to evolving consumer preferences within the casual apparel segment. Its blend of regional heritage and contemporary branding aims to sustain growth in the competitive U.S. retail landscape.

Buckle Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Net income for Q4 was $77.2 million (down from $79.6 million a year ago) with diluted EPS of $1.53, and full-year net income fell to $195.5 million from $219.9 million as net sales declined 3.4%.
• Comparable store sales in Q4 rose 3.9% and online sales grew 12%, reflecting a strong back-half performance supported by digital experience investments.
• Gross margin in Q4 improved by 30 basis points to 52.6%, driven by a 40 basis-point increase in merchandise margins and lower distribution and buying costs.
• The company has relocated 51 of 74 remodeled stores into higher-traffic outdoor centers over four years, and plans in FY 2025 include opening 7 new stores plus 18–22 remodel projects (at least half as relocations).
• Inventory ended the year down over 4% and, despite tariff and economic uncertainties, management is optimistic about navigating cost pressures through strong vendor relationships.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good morning and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Buckle's fourth 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.

[Operator]

Member of Buckle's management on the call today are Dennis Nelson, President and CEO Tom Heacock, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer and CFO Adam Makerson, Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller and Brady Fritz, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. As they review operating results, they would like to reiterate their policy of not giving future sales or earnings guidance and have the following safe harbor statement. Safe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward looking statements made by the company involve material risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on factors which may be beyond the company's control. Accordingly, the company's future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward looking statements.

[Operator]

Such factors include but are not limited to those described in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized. Additionally, the company does not authorize the reproduction or dissemination of transcripts or audio recordings of the company's quarterly conference calls without its expressed written consent. Any unauthorized reproductions or recordings of the cause should not be relied upon as the information may be inaccurate. As a reminder, today's webcast is being recorded.

[Operator]

And now and I'd now like to turn the conference over to your host, Dennis Nelson.

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Good morning, and thank you for joining today's call. Before turning the call over to Tom to go through results for the quarter, I want to take the opportunity to thank our dedicated teammates for delivering such a strong finish to the year. I am proud of our team's efforts and steadfast commitment to our specialty store approach of providing great product and outstanding service for every guest. We did this by first ensuring each of our locations is positioned to provide the best possible experience in its market. This is evidenced by our ongoing and successful program relocating stores out of certain malls and into higher traffic outdoor centers.

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Over the last four years, fifty one of our 74 remodels have been relocations into new outdoor centers. We also focused on delivering a continuous flow of high quality and on trend merchandise, allowing us to grow merchandise margins and end the year with inventory down over 4% and well balanced across categories. During the year, we also made intentional investments in our digital experience, allowing for strong economic performance in the back half of the year. For the fourth quarter, total e commerce sales grew 12% against the same period a year ago. As we move into 2025 with unknowns surrounding tariffs economy, we are optimistic that with the strength of our teams and vendor relationships, we will be able to successfully manage through the challenges of the year.

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

And with that, I will turn the call over to Tom.

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

Good morning. Our 03/14/2025 press release reported that net income for the thirteen week fourth quarter ended 02/01/2025 was $77,200,000 or $1.53 per share on a diluted basis, which compares to net income of $79,600,000 or $1.59 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year fourteen week fourth quarter, which ended 02/03/2024. Net income for the fifty two week fiscal year, which ended 02/01/2025, was $195,500,000 or $3.89 per share on a diluted basis compared to net income of $219,900,000 or $4.4 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year fifty three week fiscal year ended 02/03/2024. Net sales for the thirteen week fourth quarter decreased 0.8% to $379,200,000 compared to net sales of $382,400,000 for the prior year fourteen week fourth quarter. Comparable store sales for the thirteen week fiscal quarter increased 3.9 in comparison to the same thirteen week period a year ago, and our online sales increased 6.4% to $69,700,000 for the thirteen week fiscal quarter compared to $65,500,000 for the prior year fourteen week quarter.

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

Compared to the same thirteen week period a year ago, online sales increased 12%. Net sales for the fifty two week fiscal year decreased 3.4% to $1,218,000,000 compared to net sales of $1,261,000,000 for the prior year fifty three week fiscal year. Comparable store sales for the fifty two week year decreased 2.7% in comparison to the prior year or the same fifty two week period in the prior year and our online sales decreased 4.3% to 197,700,000 for the fifty two week fiscal year compared to $206,500,000 for the prior year fifty three week fiscal year. Compared to the same fifty two week period a year ago, our online sales decreased 2.5. For the quarter, UPTs decreased slightly, the average unit retail increased approximately 1% and the average transaction value increased about 1%.

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

For the year, UPTs decreased approximately 2%, the average unit retail increased approximately 3% and the average transaction value increased approximately one percent. Gross margin for the quarter was 52.6%, up 30 basis points from 52.3% in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three, with the current quarter increase being the result of a 40 basis point increase in merchandise margins, along with a 20 basis point reduction in distribution and buying costs, which were partially offset by a 30 basis point increase in occupancy costs. For the full year, gross margin was 48.7%, down 40 basis points from 49.1% in the prior year. And the current quarter decline was the result of an 85 basis point increase in occupancy costs and a 10 basis point increase in distribution and buying costs, which were partially offset by a 55 basis point improvement in merchandise margins. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter were 27.2% of sales compared to 27.1% for the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three.

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

And for the full year SG and A was 28.9% of net sales compared to 27.6% for the same period last year. The fourth quarter increase was due to a 50 basis point increase in incentive compensation accruals, a 15 basis point increase related to e commerce shipping expenses and a 10 basis point increase in G and A salaries. These increases were partially offset by a 25 basis point decrease in accrued PTO, a 15 basis point decrease in marketing spend and a 10 basis point increase in store labor related expenses along with a 15 basis point decrease in other SG and A expense categories. Our operating margin for the quarter was 25.4% compared to 25.2% for the fourth quarter of fiscal twenty twenty three. And for the full year, our operating margin was 19.8% compared to 21.5% for the same period last year.

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

Income tax expense as a percentage of pre tax net income for the quarter was 23.7% compared to 23% for the fourth quarter of fiscal twenty twenty three, bringing fourth quarter net income to $77,200,000 for fiscal twenty twenty four compared to $79,600,000 for fiscal twenty twenty three. For the full year, income tax expense was 24.2% of pretax net income compared to 24% of fiscal twenty twenty three, bringing net income to $195,500,000 in fiscal twenty twenty four compared to $219,900,000 last year. Our press release also included a balance sheet as of 02/01/2025, which included the following: inventory of $120,800,000 which was down 4.4% from the same time a year ago and $318,800,000 of total cash and investments, which was after payment of $198,000,000 in dividends during the year. We ended the year with $145,800,000 in fixed assets net of accumulated depreciation. Our capital expenditures for the quarter were $9,800,000 and depreciation expense was $6,400,000 For the full year, capital expenditures were $42,300,000 and depreciation expense was $23,000,000 dollars Full year capital spending is broken down as follows: $40,300,000 for new store construction, store remodels and technology upgrades and $2,000,000 for capital spending at the corporate headquarters and distribution center.

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

During the quarter, we opened one new store, completed five full remodels and closed five stores, which brings our full year count to eight new stores, 18 full remodels, half of which were relocations into new outdoor centers and 11 store closures. Current plans for fiscal twenty twenty five include opening seven new stores and completing 18 to 22 full remodel projects with at least half of the planned remodels being relocations to new outdoor centers. We've also closed one store so far year to date with no additional store closures currently planned. Buckle ended the year with four forty one retail stores in 42 states compared with four forty four stores in 42 states at the end of fiscal twenty twenty three. And now I'll turn it over to Adam MacKerson, Vice President of Finance.

[Adam Akerson, VP of Finance, Controller & Assistant Treasurer at The Buckle]

Thanks, Tom, and good morning. Women's merchandise sales for the quarter were up about 4.5% against the prior year 14 fiscal quarter and represented approximately 43% of sales. On a thirteen week comparable basis, women's merchandise sales increased approximately 11%. The women's business continues to be led by strong performance in our denim category with denim sales increasing 15% driven by continued outperformance in our private branded jeans with private label growing over 20%. Average denim price points increased from $81.25 in the fourth quarter of fiscal twenty twenty three to $83.1 in the fourth quarter of fiscal twenty twenty four, while the overall average women's price point increased about 1% from $51 to $51.55 Complementing the favorable denim trends during the year, we also saw strong acceleration in several other women's categories, most notably in knits, sweaters and accessories.

[Adam Akerson, VP of Finance, Controller & Assistant Treasurer at The Buckle]

On the men's side, merchandise sales for the quarter were down about 4% against the prior year fourteen week fiscal quarter, representing approximately 57% of total sales. On a thirteen week comparable basis, men's merchandise sales increased approximately 1%. We were pleased to see nice increases in our men's denim business, which was up about 1.5% for the comparable period, as well as continued strength in our knits and tees business. We also saw steady growth in our outerwear category as we continued to identify areas for investment in a variety of styles. Average denim price points decreased from $87.15 in the fourth quarter of fiscal twenty twenty three to $86.3 in the fourth quarter of fiscal twenty twenty four.

[Adam Akerson, VP of Finance, Controller & Assistant Treasurer at The Buckle]

For the quarter, overall average men's price points increased approximately 0.5% from $56.05 to $56.3 On a combined basis, accessory sales for the thirteen week quarter were up approximately 7.5% against the prior year thirteen week comparable period, while footwear sales were down about 7%. These two categories accounted for approximately eleven percent and five percent respectively of fourth quarter net sales, which compares to 116% for each in the fourth quarter of fiscal twenty twenty three. For the quarter, average accessory price points were down about 2.5%, while average footwear price points were up about 4%. Also on a combined basis, our youth business continued building momentum from back to school through the holiday selling season, with total used sales for the quarter increasing approximately 10% against the comparable period a year ago. For the quarter, denim accounted for approximately 45 of sales and tops accounted for approximately 29%, which compares to 4429.5% for each in the fourth quarter of fiscal twenty twenty three.

[Adam Akerson, VP of Finance, Controller & Assistant Treasurer at The Buckle]

Fueled by sustained growth in our private label denim and a strong presentation across our other categories, we continue to see increases in our private label penetration during the quarter. For the quarter, private label represented 51% of sales versus 50% in the fourth quarter of twenty twenty three. And this growth brings our full year private label mix to 47.5 versus 46% in the prior year. And with that, we welcome your questions.

[Operator]

Prior to asking your questions, please state your name and firm affiliation. Our first question is from Mauricio Serna. Mauricio, I'm gonna go ahead and unmute you at this time.

[Mauricio Serna, Executive Director at UBS Group]

Great. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I'm from UBS, by the way. Sorry.

[Mauricio Serna, Executive Director at UBS Group]

Yeah. Could you just elaborate a little bit more what you saw on the merchandise margin? I think you called out 40 basis points of gains. What is that attributed to? And then could you just also like remind us like the other drivers in gross margin in your Q4 performance?

[Mauricio Serna, Executive Director at UBS Group]

And then second point on, of course, there's been a lot of talk about tariffs. Could you just like remind us like in the prior administration, what was your mitigation plan back then and what did you see in your merch margins as a result of the tariffs? Thank you so much.

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Good morning. On the merchandise margins, the increase of our private label percentage through the holidays definitely had a positive effect on that. But also, just better regular price selling through a lot of the categories to keep the margins and less markdowns at the end of the season. As far as the tariffs go, we feel we have very good long term relationships with our vendors and working with them to, you know, do our best to to manage costs there. We feel confident that, with that, at this time, we will be able to work through that without much harm.

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

So, Tom, do you want to hit the gross margins?

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

Yes. I mean, Dennis mentioned merchandise margins were a big driver. I mean, we're up 40 for the quarter and up 55 for the year to date. So similar trends there of increased private label and better merchandise margins or better regular price, something like Dennis called out. And then the other driver is just leverage or lack of leverage on buying distribution and occupancy.

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

So down about 10 basis points with the strong comps in the fourth quarter and down 95 basis points for the year to date.

[Mauricio Serna, Executive Director at UBS Group]

Great. Thank you.

[Operator]

Okay. Our next question is from John Bratz. John, if you, are available to unmute, you can do so at this time.

[Analyst]

Dennis?

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Yes, John.

[Analyst]

How are you?

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Good. Thank you.

[Analyst]

Just sort of a trend question. You know, we're hearing a lot about a recession and so on. And how do you see that maybe in your store traffic at this point? And then secondly, our resident apparel or fashion expert was talking about sweat jeans the other day and I've been reading a little bit about it. Is that a product that's something that you will add to your portfolio? How do you think about that as an offering?

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Well, regarding the sweat jeans, I mean, we do have some knit denim, in a very small way that a lot of young guys like. So that's a small part of our business. We have some jogging type pants and different looks in the ladies that have been successful, but it is really not in a denim category. So, you know, I don't I don't see that being any big player. And I forgot the first part of your question, John.

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Store traffic? Oh, store traffic. We don't have traffic counters in our stores. So with what's going on, the weather and everything that I mean, it'd just be an estimate of what's happening out there. Our February sales were down 1%.

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

So by that, I would guess we're pretty flat traffic.

[Operator]

Okay. Our next question is from Alan Glenn. Alan, I'll go ahead and prompt you to a mute at this time.

[Analyst]

There we go. Good morning.

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Good morning.

[Analyst]

Can you give us a rough analysis of your inventory sourcing from overseas?

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Well, it's still predominantly China. We do Vietnam, some Bangladesh. We have over 200 vendors. So, there's a lot of sourcing from many countries. Our biggest ones, though, would still be out of China.

[Analyst]

Are any of them planning to change their production to switch like to another country? Do you know?

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Yes. In visiting with them that their top personnel would relocate to different countries if it made sense. You know, there are some increased costs in some of the other countries that offset some of the China cost if there is tariffs. But the we've never been our product has never been a how low a price we can go. We're more concerned about quality, fashion, the fit and that we get the our guests want the newness and the quality product and that's what our focus is on.

[Analyst]

And I just have one more. You've been making steady progress increasing your online sales. Are you planning anything any new initiatives in that area?

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

Yes, Alan, thanks for the question. I mean, online was a very strong performer in the second half of the year and especially in the fourth quarter like we called out. And I think that was a point of emphasis as we came into last year that we talked about all year. We engaged with an external third party to really do a complete review of our website. And we've talked about it on past calls, but made a pretty comprehensive list of improvements to the site that improved, the guest shopping experience on the site, their ability to find product that increased on-site metrics as far as AOV and conversion.

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

And so we're really pleased with the progress we made there. As As we head into the fourth quarter and the back half of the year, we really focused externally on marketing activities and getting the right mix of content and the content strategy and also the right balance of focus on acquisition and retention. And so continuing to build there in terms of marketing capabilities and spend there will be the primary focus, but feel good about the site and where the site is. We also did free shipping, so we added in October that also had a nice boost for the fourth quarter, free shipping offer for all of our loyalty members if they opted into our loyalty program. And so that had a nice response as well.

[Analyst]

Great. Thanks very much.

[Dennis Nelson, President & CEO at The Buckle]

Thank

[Operator]

As a reminder for participants, if you would like to ask a question, please raise your hand in the Zoom app. Okay. It looks like there are no further questions in queue. I will now turn the call back over to Buckle for any closing remarks.

[Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director at The Buckle]

With no questions, we'll we'll conclude the call today. So thank you everyone for your participation and enjoy the rest of the day.

Participants

Executives

• Dennis Nelson, President & CEO
• Thomas Heacock, Senior VP of Finance, Treasurer, CFO & Director
• Adam Akerson, VP of Finance, Controller & Assistant Treasurer

Analysts

• Mauricio Serna, Executive Director at UBS Group
• Analyst