Buckle, Inc. (The)

Good morning, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Buckle's fourth quarter earnings release webcast. As a reminder, all participants are currently in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will be conducted following the company's prepared remarks with instructions given at that time. Members of Buckle's management on the call today are Dennis Nelson, President and CEO, Tom Heacock, Senior Vice President of Finance, Treasurer and CFO, Adam Mackerson, Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller, and Brady Fritz, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. As they review operating results, they would like to reiterate their policy of not giving future sales or earnings guidance and have the following safe harbor statement. Safe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements made by the company involve material risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on factors which may be beyond the company's control. Accordingly, the company's future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commissions. The company does not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized. Additionally, the company does not authorize the reproduction or dissemination of transcripts or audio recordings of the company's quarterly conference calls without its express written consent. Any unauthorized reproductions or recordings of the calls should not be relied upon, as the information may be inaccurate. As a reminder, today's webcast is being recorded. And I'd now like to turn the conference over to your host, Dennis Nelson.

Good morning, and thank you for joining today's call. Before turning the call over to Tom to go through results for the quarter, I want to take the opportunity to thank our dedicated teammates for delivering such a strong finish to the year. I am proud of our team's efforts and steadfast commitment to our specialty store approach of providing great product and outstanding service for every guest. We did this by first ensuring each of our locations is positioned to provide the best possible experience in its market. This is evidenced by our ongoing and successful program relocating stores out of certain malls and into higher traffic outdoor centers. Over the last four years, 51 of our 74 remodels have been relocations into new outdoor centers. We also focused on delivering a continuous flow of high-quality and on-trend merchandise, allowing us to grow merchandise margins and end the year with inventory down over 4% and well-balanced across categories. During the year, we also made intentional investments in our digital experience, allowing for strong economic performance in the back half of the year. For the fourth quarter, total e-commerce sales grew 12% against the same period a year ago. As we move into 2025 with unknowns surrounding tariffs in the economy, we are optimistic that with the strength of our teams and vendor relationships, we will be able to successfully manage through the challenges of the year. And with that, I will turn the call over to Tom.

Good morning. Our March 14, 2025 press release reported that net income for the 13-week fourth quarter ended February 1, 2025 was $77.2 million, or $1.53 per share on a diluted basis, which compares to net income of $79.6 million, or $1.59 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year 14-week fourth quarter, which ended February 3, 2024. Net income for the 52-week fiscal year, which ended February 1, 2025, was $195.5 million, or $3.89 per share on a diluted basis, compared to net income of $219.9 million, or $4.40 per share on a diluted basis for the prior year. 53-week fiscal year ended February 3, 2024. Net sales for the 13-week fourth quarter decreased 0.8%, to $379.2 million compared to net sales of $382.4 million for the prior year 14-week fourth quarter. Comparable store sales for the 13-week fiscal quarter increased 3.9% in comparison to the same 13-week period a year ago, and our online sales increased 6.4% to 69.7 million for the 13-week fiscal quarter, compared to 65.5 million for the prior year 14-week fiscal quarter. Compared to the same 13-week period a year ago, online sales increased 12%. Net sales for the 52-week fiscal year decreased 3.4% to 1.218 billion, compared to net sales of 1.261 billion for the prior year 53-week fiscal year. Comparable store sales for the 52-week year decreased 2.7% in comparison to the prior year or the same 52-week period in the prior year. And our online sales decreased 4.3% to $197.7 million for the 52-week fiscal year compared to $206.5 million for the prior year 53-week fiscal year. Compared to the same 52-week period a year ago, our online sales decreased 2.5%. For the quarter, UPTs decreased slightly. The average unit retail increased approximately 1%, and the average transaction value increased about 1%. For the year, UPTs decreased approximately 2%. The average unit retail increased approximately 3%, and the average transaction value increased approximately 1%. Gross margin for the quarter was 52.6% of 30 basis points from 52.3% in the fourth quarter of 2023, with the current quarter increase being the result of a 40 basis point increase in merchandise margins, along with a 20 basis point reduction in distribution and buying costs, which were partially offset by a 30 basis point increase in occupancy costs. For the full year, gross margin was 48.7%, down 40 basis points from 49.1% in the prior year. And the current quarter decline was the result of an 85 basis point increase in occupancy costs and a 10 basis point increase in distribution and buying costs, which were partially offset by a 55 basis point improvement in merchandise margins. Selling general administrative expenses for the quarter were 27.2% of sales compared to 27.1% for the fourth quarter of 2023. And for the full year, SG&A was 28.9% of net sales compared to 27.6% for the same period last year. The fourth quarter increase was due to a 50 basis point increase in incentive compensation accruals, a 15 basis point increase related to e-commerce shipping expenses, and a 10 basis point increase in G&A salaries. These increases were partially offset by a 25 basis point decrease in accrued PTO, a 15 basis point decrease in marketing spend, and a 10 basis point increase in store labor related expenses, along with a 15 basis point decrease in other SG&A expense categories. Our operating margin for the quarter was 25.4% compared to 25.2% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. And for the full year, our operating margin was 19.8% compared to 21.5% for the same period last year. Income tax expense as a percentage of pre-tax net income for the quarter was 23.7% compared to 23% for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, bringing fourth quarter net income to 77.2 million for fiscal 2024, compared to 79.6 million for fiscal 2023. For the full year, income tax expense was 24.2% of pre-tax net income compared to 24% in fiscal 2023, bringing net income to $195.5 million in fiscal 2024 compared to $219.9 million last year. Our press release also included a balance sheet as of February 1st, 2025, which included the following. Inventory of 120.8 million, which was down 4.4% from the same time a year ago, and 318.8 million of total cash and investments, which was after payment of 198 million in dividends during the year. We ended the year with 145.8 million in fixed assets, net of accumulated depreciation. Our capital expenditures for the quarter were $9.8 million, and depreciation expense was $6.4 million. For the full year, capital expenditures were $42.3 million, and depreciation expense was $23 million. Full year capital spending is broken down as follows. $40.3 million for new store construction, store remodels, and technology upgrades, and $2 million for capital spending at the corporate headquarters and distribution center. During the quarter, we opened one new store, completed five full remodels and closed five stores, which brings our full year count to eight new stores, 18 full remodels, half of which were relocations into new outdoor centers, and 11 store closures. Current plans for fiscal 2025 include opening seven new stores and completing 18 to 22 full remodel projects, with at least half of the planned remodels being relocations to new outdoor centers. We've also closed one store so far year to date with no additional store closures currently planned. Buckle ended the year with 441 retail stores in 42 states compared with 444 stores in 42 states at the end of fiscal 2023. And now we'll turn it over to Adam Ackerson, Vice President of Finance.

Thanks, Tom, and good morning. Women's merchandise sales for the quarter were up about 4.5% against the prior year 14-week fiscal quarter and represented approximately 43% of sales. On a 13-week comparable basis, women's merchandise sales increased approximately 11%. The women's business continues to be led by strong performance in our denim category, with denim sales increasing 15%, driven by continued outperformance in our private branded jeans, with private label growing over 20%. Average denim price points increased from $81.25 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 to $83.10 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 24, while the overall average women's price point increased about 1% from $51 to $51.55. Complementing the favorable denim trends during the year, we also saw a strong acceleration in several other women's categories, most notably in knits, sweaters, and accessories. On the men's side, merchandise sales for the quarter were down about 4% against the prior year 14 week fiscal quarter, representing approximately 57% of total sales. On a 13 week comparable basis, men's merchandise sales increased approximately 1%. We were pleased to see nice increases in our men's denim business, which was up about 1.5% for the comparable period, as well as continued strength in our knits and tees business. We also saw steady growth in our outerwear category as we continued to identify areas for investment in a variety of styles. Average denim price points decreased from $87.15 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 23 to $86.30 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 24. For the quarter, overall average men's price points increased approximately 0.5% from $56.05 to $56.30. On a combined basis, accessory sales for the 13-week quarter were up approximately 7.5% against the prior year 13-week comparable period, while footwear sales were down about 7%. These two categories accounted for approximately 11% and 5%, respectively, of fourth quarter net sales, which compares to 11% and 6% for each in the fourth quarter of fiscal 23. For the quarter, average accessory price points were down about 2.5%, while average footwear price points were up about 4%. Also on a combined basis, our youth business continued building momentum from back to school through the holiday selling season, with total youth sales for the quarter increasing approximately 10% against the comparable period a year ago. For the quarter, denim accounted for approximately 45% of sales and tops accounted for approximately 29%. which compares to 44% and 29.5% for each in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Fueled by sustained growth in our private label denim and a strong presentation across our other categories, we continue to see increases in our private label penetration during the quarter. For the quarter, private label represented 51% of sales versus 50% in the fourth quarter of 2023. And this growth brings our full-year private label mix to 47.5% versus 46% in the prior year. And with that, we welcome your questions.

Thank you. As a reminder for participants, if you would like to ask a question, please raise your hand in the Zoom app. Prior to asking your questions, please state your name and firm affiliation. Our first question is from Mauricio Serna. Mauricio, I'm going to go ahead and unmute you at this time.

Great. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I'm from UBS, by the way. Sorry. Yeah. Could you just elaborate a little bit more what you saw on the merchandise margin? I think you called out for 40 basis points of gains. What is that attributed to? And then could you just also remind us like the other drivers in gross margin in your Q4 performance? And then second point on, you know, of course, there's been a lot of talk about tariffs, you know, like, could you just like remind us, like, in the prior administration, what was your mitigation plan back then? And, you know, what did you see in your merge margins as a result of, you know, the tariffs? Thank you so much.

Good morning. On the merchandise margins, the increase of our private label percentage through the holidays definitely had a positive effect on that, but also just better regular price selling through a lot of the categories to keep the margins and less markdowns at the end of the season. As far as the tariffs go, you know, we feel that we have very good long-term relationships with our vendors and working with them to, you know, do our best to, you know, manage costs there. We feel confident that with that at this time, we will be able to work through that without much harm. So Tom, you want to hit the gross margins?

Yeah, I mean, Dennis mentioned merchandise margins were a big driver. I mean, we're up 40 for the quarter and up 55 for the year to date. So similar trends there of increased private label and better merchandise margins are better, better regular price selling like Dennis called out. And then the other driver is just, you know, leverage or lack of leverage on buying distribution and occupancy. So down about 10 basis points with the strong comps in the fourth quarter and down 95 for the year to date.

Great. Thank you. Okay. Our next question is from John Bratz. John, if you are available on mute, you can do so at this time.

Dennis?

Yes, John.

How are you?

Good. Thank you.

Just sort of a trend question. You know, we're hearing a lot about a recession and so on. And how do you see that maybe in your store traffic at this point? And then secondly, our resident apparel or fashion expert was talking about sweat jeans the other day. And I've been reading a little bit about it. Is that a product that's something that you will add to your portfolio? How do you think about that trend? as an offering.

Well, regarding the sweat jeans, I mean, we do have some knit denim in a very small way that a lot of young guys like. So that's a small part of our business. We have some... jogging type pants and different looks than the ladies that have been successful, but is really not in a denim category. So, you know, I don't see that being any big player. And I forgot the first part of your question, John.

Store traffic.

Oh, store traffic. We don't have traffic counters in our stores. So with what's going on, the weather and everything, I mean, it'd just be an estimate of what's happening out there. You know, our February sales were down 1%. So by that, I would guess we're pretty flat traffic today.

Okay, our next question is from Alan Glenn. Alan, I'll go ahead and pop you to a mute at this time.

There we go. Good morning. Good morning. Can you give us a rough analysis of your inventory sourcing from overseas?

Well, it's still predominantly China. We do Vietnam, some Bangladesh. You know, we have, you know, we have over 200 vendors. So it's, there's a lot of sourcing from many countries. Our biggest ones, though, would still be out of China.

Are any of them planning to change their production to switch like to another country? Do you know?

Yes, and visiting with them that their top personnel would relocate to different countries if it made sense. You know, there are some increased costs in some of the other countries that offset some of the China cost if there is tariffs, but the You know, we've never been our product has never been a how low a price we can go. We're more concerned about quality, fashion, the fit. And then we get the our guests want the the newness and the quality product. And that's what our focus is on.

And I just have one more. You've been making steady progress increasing your online sales. Are you planning anything, any new initiatives in that area?

Yeah, Alan, thanks for the question. I mean, online was a very strong performer in the second half of the year and especially in the fourth quarter, like we called out. And I think that was a point of emphasis as we came into last year that we talked about all year. We engaged with an external third party to really do a complete review of our website. And we've talked about it on past calls, but made a pretty comprehensive list of improvements to the site that improved the guest shopping experience on the site, their ability to find product that increased on-site metrics as far as you know, AOV and conversion. And so we're really pleased with the progress we made there. As we head into the fourth quarter of the back half of the year, we really focused externally on marketing activities and getting the right mix of content and the content strategy, and also the right balance of a focus on acquisition and retention. And so continuing to build there in terms of marketing capabilities and spend there will be the primary focus, but feel good about the site and where the site is. We also did free shipping. So we added in October that also had a nice boost for the fourth quarter. Free shipping offer for all of our loyalty members if they opted into our loyalty program. And so that had a nice response as well.

Great. Thanks very much. Thank you.

As a reminder for participants, if you would like to ask a question, please raise your hand in the Zoom app. Okay, it looks like there are no further questions in queue. I will now turn the call back over to Buckle for any closing remarks.

No questions. We'll conclude the call today. So thank you everyone for your participation and enjoy the rest of the day.