Buckle (NYSE: BKE) met its estimates last quarter, but investors hope that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, March 8. Buckle is a retailer of medium- to better-priced casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for fashion-conscious young men and women.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Buckle, with six out of seven analysts rating it a hold. Analysts don't like Buckle as much as competitor American Eagle overall. Nine out of 25 analysts rate American Eagle a buy compared to one out of seven for Buckle. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $333.1 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 9.9% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $1.14 per share. Estimates range from $1.11 to $1.17.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are strongly backing the stock, with 90.4% giving it an outperform rating. The community at large concurs with the All-Stars, with 89.3% awarding it a rating of outperform. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Buckle, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Buckle's profit has risen year over year by an average of 13.4% over the past five quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows gross, operating, and net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

43.4%

41.0%

42.9%

47.6%

Operating Margin

22.1%

17.3%

21.4%

25.6%

Net Margin

14.0%

11.1%

13.9%

16.3%

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.