The Buckle, Inc. (NYSE:BKE) has been continuing with sluggish comparable-store sales (comps) performance. Comps for the four-week period ended Jul 29, 2017 declined 8.4% year over year. The company’s comps have decreased 5.8% in June, 9% in May, 3.5% in April, 10.1% in March, 23.2% in February and 17.6% in January.
Buckle generated net sales of $60.6 million in July, down 9% year over year. Net sales decreased 5.9% in June, 8.8% in May, 3.9% in April, 10.1% in March, 23.3% in February and 17.2% in January.
Comps for the 13-week period ended Jul 29 declined 7.7%, while net sales decreased 7.8% to $195.7 million.
Further, Buckle’s disappointing performance is evident from its dismal run on the index. Shares of this retailer of casual apparel, footwear and accessories have plunged 34.3% year to date compared with the industry’s decline of 26.3%.
Sales at the company’s Men's category, which contributed nearly 51% to sales in July, tumbled 5.5% year over year. Moreover, it has not been able to revive the performance of struggling Women’s business. Sales in the Women’s category, which represented 49% of the company’s monthly sales, slumped 17% year over year.
On a combined basis, accessory sales, which constituted nearly 10.5% of the company’s July sales, dropped 9.5%. Footwear sales, which accounted for almost 6% of net sales, declined 2%.
As of Aug 3, 2017, Buckle operated 463 retail stores across 44 states.
Apart from Buckle, Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) , Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ:ZUMZ) and L Brands, Inc. (NYSE:LB) came out with comparable sales results for the month of July. While comparable sales for Costco and Zumiez increased 6.2% and 5.1%, respectively, L Brands declined 7%.
Buckle currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
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