Post Earnings Coverage as Buckle Earnings Tumble 35%

Upcoming AWS Coverage on Express, Inc. Post-Earnings Results

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / November 30, 2016 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE: BKE). The company posted its third quarter fiscal 2016 financial results on November 18, 2016. The teen clothing retailer’s earnings results fell below market expectations, while revenue matched forecasts. Register with us now for your free membership at: http://www.activewallst.com/register/.

One of Buckle’s competitors within the Apparel Stores space, Express, Inc. (NYSE: EXPR), announced that IT will conduct a conference call to discuss Q3 2016 results on Thursday, December 1, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. ET. AWS will be initiating a research report on Express in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on BKE; touching on EXPR. Get our free coverage by signing up to:

http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=BKE

http://www.activewallst.com/registration-3/?symbol=EXPR

Earnings Reviewed

For the three months ended on October 29th, 2016, Buckle reported net income of $23.4 million, or $0.49 per share ($0.48 per share on a diluted basis), compared to $35.9 million, or $0.75 per share ($0.74 per share on a diluted basis), for Q3 2015. The results fell short of Wall Street’s expectations for earnings of $0.51 per share.

During Q3 2016, the company’s net sales for Q3 2016 fell 14.6% to $239.2 million from net sales of $280.2 million for the prior year’s comparable quarter. Comparable store net sales for the reported quarter dropped 15.3% on a y-o-y basis. Buckle’s online sales declined 8.5% to $23.7 million for Q3 2016 compared to net sales of $25.9 million for Q3 2015. Net sales for Q3 2016 were reported net of the impact of both the reward redemptions and accruals for estimated feature rewards related to the Company’s new guest loyalty program, which launched during Q1 2016. Absent the impact of the new loyalty program, total net sales for Q3 2016 were down 13.2% and comparable store sales were down 13.9%. The company’s sales numbers managed to meet analysts’ expectations of $239.2 million.

Margin Matters

During Q3 2016, Buckle’s gross margin came in at 40.5%, down approximately 140 basis points from 41.9% for Q3 2015. The decrease was attributed to deleveraged occupancy, buying and distribution expenses resulting from the comparable store sales decline, which had about a 270 basis point impact and was partially offset by 130 basis point improvement in merchandise margins. Factoring out the impact of the new loyalty program, merchandise margins for the reported quarter would have been up approximately 30 basis points. The company’s operating margin for Q3 2016 was 15.4% compared to 20.1% for Q3 2015. Other income for Q3 2016 was $497,000 compared to $951,000 for Q3 2015.

Balance Sheet

As of October 29, 2016, Buckle had an inventory of $148.2 million, which was down approximately 16% from inventory of $175.9 million at the end of Q3 2015, and total cash and investments of $232.8 million compared to $192 million at the same time a year ago. The company ended Q3 2016 with $175 million in fixed assets, net of accumulated depreciation. During Q3 2016, Buckle’s capital expenditures for the quarter were $10 million and depreciation expense was $7.9 million. For the year-to-date period, capital expenditures were $27 million and depreciation expense was $24.1 million. The company expects Q4 2016 the capital expenditures to be in the range of $28 million to $32 million, which includes primarily new store and store remodeling projects and certain IT investments. The company ended Q3 2016 with $175 million in fixed assets, net of accumulated depreciation.

Stores Update

For the reported quarter, Buckle’s average unit retail decreased approximately 5.5%, while average transaction value decreased 4.0%. Buckle ended Q3 2016 with 470 retail stores in 44 states, compared to 468 stores in 44 states at the end of Q3 2015. Additionally, the company’s total square footage was 2.403 million square feet as of the end of Q3 2016 compared to 2.372 million square feet at the same time a year ago.

Stock Performance

At the closing bell, on Tuesday, November 29, 2016, Buckle’s stock was marginally up 0.39%, ending the trading session at $25.45. A total volume of 412.58 thousand shares were traded at the end of the day. In the last month and previous six months, shares of the company have advanced 21.48% and 4.58%, respectively. The company’s shares are trading at a PE ratio of 10.55 and have a dividend yield of 3.93%.

Active Wall Street:

Active Wall Street (AWS) produces regular sponsored and non-sponsored reports, articles, stock market blogs, and popular investment newsletters covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and micro-cap stocks. AWS has two distinct and independent departments. One department produces non-sponsored analyst certified content generally in the form of press releases, articles and reports covering equities listed on NYSE and NASDAQ and the other produces sponsored content (in most cases not reviewed by a registered analyst), which typically consists of compensated investment newsletters, articles and reports covering listed stocks and micro-caps. Such sponsored content is outside the scope of procedures detailed below.

AWS has not been compensated; directly or indirectly; for producing or publishing this document.

PRESS RELEASE PROCEDURES:

The non-sponsored content contained herein has been prepared by a writer (the “Author”) and is fact checked and reviewed by a third party research service company (the “Reviewer”) represented by a credentialed financial analyst, for further information on analyst credentials, please email info@activewallst.com. Rohit Tuli, a CFA® charterholder (the “Sponsor”), provides necessary guidance in preparing the document templates. The Reviewer has reviewed and revised the content, as necessary, based on publicly available information which is believed to be reliable. Content is researched, written and reviewed on a reasonable-effort basis. The Reviewer has not performed any independent investigations or forensic audits to validate the information herein. The Reviewer has only independently reviewed the information provided by the Author according to the procedures outlined by AWS. AWS is not entitled to veto or interfere in the application of such procedures by the third-party research service company to the articles, documents or reports, as the case may be. Unless otherwise noted, any content outside of this document has no association with the Author or the Reviewer in any way.

NO WARRANTY

AWS, the Author, and the Reviewer are not responsible for any error which may be occasioned at the time of printing of this document or any error, mistake or shortcoming. No liability is accepted whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from the use of this document. AWS, the Author, and the Reviewer expressly disclaim any fiduciary responsibility or liability for any consequences, financial or otherwise arising from any reliance placed on the information in this document. Additionally, AWS, the Author, and the Reviewer do not (1) guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or correct sequencing of the information, or (2) warrant any results from use of the information. The included information is subject to change without notice.

NOT AN OFFERING

This document is not intended as an offering, recommendation, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities mentioned or discussed, and is to be used for informational purposes only. Please read all associated disclosures and disclaimers in full before investing. Neither AWS nor any party affiliated with us is a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer with any agency or in any jurisdiction whatsoever. To download our report(s), read our disclosures, or for more information, visit http://www.activewallst.com/disclaimer/.

CONTACT

For any questions, inquiries, or comments reach out to us directly. If you’re a company we are covering and wish to no longer feature on our coverage list contact us via email and/or phone between 09:30 EDT to 16:00 EDT from Monday to Friday at:

Email: info@activewallst.com
Phone number: 1-858-257-3144

Office Address: 3rd floor, 207 Regent Street, London, W1B 3HH, United Kingdom

CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.

SOURCE: Active Wall Street

ReleaseID: 450004