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Buckle's (BKE) Sturdy Sales Trend Continues in December

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The Buckle, Inc. (BKE - Free Report) has been putting up a stellar show for the past few months. BKE’s impressive sales run continued in December 2021 wherein net sales for the five-week fiscal month ended Jan 1, 2022 rose 17.3% to $198.7 million from $169.4 million recorded in the five-week fiscal month ended Jan 2, 2021. This apparel, footwear and accessories retailer registered a sales increase of 35.9%, 23.6%, 17.3% and 43%, respectively, in the preceding four months.

For the fiscal month under review, comparable store net sales for stores open at least for a year climbed 17.7% year over year. The metric jumped 36%, 23.3%, 17.8% and 42.7%, respectively, in the prior four months.

For the five-week fiscal month ended Jan 1, 2022, total sales at the men’s unit increased 14.5% from the figure recorded in the five-week period ended Jan 2, 2021 while the metric at the women’s business jumped 20%. The men’s category contributed 57.5% to BKE’s overall monthly sales while the women’s unit accounted for 42.5%.

On combining the men’s and women’s categories, accessory sales for the fiscal month climbed 26.5% while footwear sales rose 4% from the figure registered in the comparable December of fiscal 2020. The accessory and footwear categories accounted for 11% and 10.5%, respectively, of the overall fiscal December 2021 sales. For the comparable period in fiscal 2020, these categories constituted 10% and 12%, respectively.

For the year-to-date 48-week period ended Jan 1, 2022, net sales jumped 46.7% year over year to $1.230 billion from net sales of $838.2 million generated in the prior-year fiscal period ended Jan 2, 2021. Also, comparable store net sales increased 46.7% year over year during the 48-week period ended Jan 1, 2022.

Price Performance

Benefiting from a stellar sales trend, this currently Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock has appreciated 25% in the past year against the industry’s 17.8% decline. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Zacks Investment ResearchImage Source: Zacks Investment Research

Buckle has also been witnessing a solid momentum in the e-commerce business so far. During third-quarter fiscal 2021, online sales rose 9% to $50.5 million for the 13-week period ended Oct 30, 2021. Also, robust gains from BKE’s women’s and men’s merchandise categories have been contributing to its performance for a while.

Kearney, NE-based Buckle currently operates 440 retail outlets across 42 states, including one store closure. BKE operated 445 stores in 42 states as of Jan 6, 2021.

More Hot Stocks in Retail

Some other top-ranked stocks are Zumiez (ZUMZ - Free Report) , Tapestry (TPR - Free Report) and Costco (COST - Free Report) .

Zumiez, a global lifestyle retailer, currently flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1. Shares of ZUMZ have increased 19.7% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Zumiez’s fiscal 2022 sales suggests growth of 1.1% from the year-ago period’s reading. ZUMZ has a significant trailing four-quarter earnings surprise, on average.

Tapestry, the leading accessories’ designer, presently sports a Zacks Rank #1. TPR has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 29%, on average. The stock has rallied 21.1% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Tapestry’s fiscal 2022 sales and earnings per share (EPS) suggests growth of 14.8% and 17.9%, respectively, from the corresponding year-ago levels. TPR has an expected EPS growth rate of 12.3% for three-five years.

Costco, a general merchandise retailer, has a Zacks Rank #2 at present. Shares of COST have surged 48.6% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Costco’s fiscal 2022 sales and EPS suggests growth of 7.6% and 9.5%, respectively, from the year-ago corresponding figures. COST has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.3%, on average.

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