BKE - Buckle: A Growth Challenge
2024-05-12 07:54:57 ET
Summary
- Buckle's performance has ebbed as expected after the post-pandemic retail surge.
- Store count has declined over the last decade.
- The resistance to store growth - a departure from past experience - continues to be a disappointment given high profitability.
- BKE is reasonably valued at this time, barring a significant shift in revenue trends and/or the ability to retain higher than anticipated margins.
Buckle ( BKE ) is a specialty clothing retailer generally focused on a college age market segment (defined by the company as 15- to 30-year-olds) with a significant market presence in the central United States. We've long followed Buckle and written previously about the company, particularly when market sentiment became glaringly inconsistent with the company's fundamental value in the years immediately preceding the pandemic. The company's performance since has been exceptional, although recent quarters have been more challenging as the post-pandemic revenue surge has abated. In addition, mounting concerns regarding consumer sentiment, inflation, and interest rates have recently weighed down retailers across the board....
Buckle: A Growth Challenge