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The Buckle

BKE
69
Apparel - Retail · Consumer Cyclical
Also trades as: 0HQ7.L GBP 0.47 (+1.05%)
Price
$47.48
+1.46 (+3.17%)
Market Cap
$2.45B
Winston Score
69
Winston is curious
A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.
Data as of Oct 23, 2026 · filings through Aug 1, 2026

§How the score breaks down

Quality
Strong
22/30
Growth
Mixed
8/20
Cash Flow
Exceptional
9/10
Stability
Exceptional
10/10
Valuation
Good
6/10
Ownership
Good
10/15
Dividends
Strong
4/5

69 of 100 counted points = Winston Score 69.

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Share count rising — dilution

+2.7% over 4y

The company has issued more shares over this period, which dilutes each existing shareholder’s stake.

Diluted shares outstanding: 49.4M (2022) → 50.7M (2026)

§Winston Score History

The full picture

The Buckle is a clothing store chain that sells casual apparel, footwear, and accessories, mostly to teenagers and young adults. Its stores carry popular denim brands like Lucky Brand and Affliction, along with Buckle's own private-label clothing. The company operates roughly 440 retail locations across 42 U.S. states, primarily in smaller cities and suburban malls.

Buckle makes money by selling merchandise directly to shoppers in its physical stores and through its website. It keeps margins unusually high for a mall retailer — nearly 49% gross margin — partly because private-label products carry better profit than third-party brands. The company has no long-term debt and consistently returns cash to shareholders through dividends, which gives it financial stability. The main risk is its heavy dependence on physical mall traffic at a time when younger shoppers are shifting more spending online and toward fast-fashion competitors.

Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+4.6% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

-2.2% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (4%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

40.1%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$323M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Growth context

The Buckle is growing revenue at 5% year-over-year. The Winston Score measures business quality today — these growth metrics show what could matter tomorrow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
47.8%
Healthy — 47.8% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
17.4%
Healthy — 17.4% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
48.5%
Exceptional — 48.5% return on capital

ROIC above 25%. Every dollar invested in the business earns more than 25 cents back per year.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
+6.2%
Slow sales growth (+6.2% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
+8.7%
Earnings growing (+8.7% YoY)

Single-digit earnings growth — steady but not exciting.

How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
4/8 quarters
Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
122%
Turns 122% of profit into real cash
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
16.6%
Converts sales into free cash efficiently (16.6%)

FCF margin between 10% and 20%. Every $100 in sales becomes $10 to $20 in real cash.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.17
Conservative — low debt load (0.17)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
100.00x
—
Comfortably covers interest (100.0x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
10.8x
Attractive valuation — P/E 10.8

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
+0.1
GROWING
Earnings roughly flat

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Dividends

Dividend
Dividend Yield
3.01%
Moderate income — 3.01% yield

Standard yield zone for stable dividend payers. A meaningful piece of total return.

Dividend record
Dividend Growth
+12.8%
Dividend growing fast (12.8% YoY)
Payout Ratio
102%
no trend
Paying out more than the last 12 months of profit. The dividend is being funded from cash or borrowing, not this year’s earnings.

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