Investors never know what to expect for Buckle (NYSE: BKE), as it has wavered between topping and missing analysts estimates during the past fiscal year. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday, August 18. 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 of nine analysts rating it hold. Analysts like Buckle better than competitor American Eagle overall. Seven out of 26 analysts rate American Eagle a buy compared to three of nine for Buckle. Analysts still rate the stock a Hold, but they are a bit more wary about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $209 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 10.8% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of 50 cents per share. Estimates range from 48 cents to 55 cents.

What our community says:
CAPS All Stars are solidly backing the stock with 89.3% awarding it an "outperform" rating. The community at large agrees with the All Stars with 88.7% assigning it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Buckle and haven't been shy with their opinions lately, logging 220 posts in the past 30 days. 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 3.7% over the past five quarters. Revenue has now gone up for three straight 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

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2

Gross Margin

42.9%

47.6%

43.5%

40%

Operating Margin

21.4%

25.6%

22.3%

17.2%

Net Margin

13.9%

16.3%

14.1%

11%

One final thing: If you want to keep tabs on Buckle movements, and for more analysis on the company, make sure you add it to your Watchlist.

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