At a glance
Buckle Inc is worth $2.34B, about 11 times its fiscal 2026 earnings. Revenue grew 6.6% to $1.30B in fiscal 2026, with 16.2% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 7.6% a year. It pays a 9.68% dividend yield, and returned $1.17B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2022–FY2026. The stock returned −10.2% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +10.2% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 44.2% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 34.5% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 8 months and 4 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Buckle is a clothing chain based in Kearney, Nebraska. It sells medium to better-priced casual apparel, footwear and accessories to fashion-conscious men, women and kids, especially those aged 15 to 30. As of January 31, 2026, it ran 440 stores in 42 US states under the Buckle and Buckle Youth names, plus the buckle.com website. Most stores are in regional malls and lifestyle centers, though some in smaller markets have moved to open-air shopping centers.
Denim is the core of the business. It made up 42.5% of net sales in the fiscal year ended January 31, 2026, and tops added 28.9%. Accessories (10.9%), footwear (4.9%) and kids' clothing (3.9%) make up much of the rest. About 53% of sales came from outside brands such as Levi's, Wrangler, Miss Me and 7 For All Mankind. The other 47% came from Buckle's own private labels, such as BKE and Buckle Black, which usually earn higher margins.
Buckle tries to limit discounting. It never holds store-wide sales. It ships new goods to most stores daily from its single distribution center and moves slow-moving items to stores where demand is stronger. Free hemming, a loyalty program and a Buckle credit card aim to keep shoppers coming back. Revenue for that year was about $1.30 billion, with net income of $209.7 million.
Price history
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BKE -10.2% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2027 (ended Aug 1, 2026), revenue was $319.8M, up 4.6% from a year earlier, and net income was $44.4M (-1.3%).
- For fiscal 2026, revenue was $1.30B (+6.6% year over year; +7.6% a year from FY2021 to FY2026) with a 16.2% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2021–FY2026) | +7.6% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 20.1% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 15.9% good |
| Return on equity (FY2026) | 49.4% good |
| Return on assets (FY2026) | 21.2% good |
| Cash and investments | $322.9M (no borrowings found in the filings) good |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $901.3M | $130.1M | $219.8M |
| FY2022 | $1.29B | $254.8M | $292.7M |
| FY2023 | $1.35B | $254.6M | $212.0M |
| FY2024 | $1.26B | $219.9M | $217.4M |
| FY2025 | $1.22B | $195.5M | $199.7M |
| FY2026 | $1.30B | $209.7M | $205.8M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $2.34B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 11 |
| Dividend yield | 9.68% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Buckle’s market value went from $1.11B at the end of 2016 to $2.34B on Oct 28, 2026, about 2.1 times as much; since the end of 2025 it is down 14%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $2.34B | -14.3% |
| 2025 | $2.73B | +5.9% |
| 2024 | $2.58B | +7.6% |
| 2023 | $2.40B | +5.5% |
| 2022 | $2.27B | +7.8% |
| 2021 | $2.11B | +46.0% |
| 2020 | $1.44B | +8.4% |
| 2019 | $1.33B | +40.4% |
| 2018 | $948.0M | -18.3% |
| 2017 | $1.16B | +4.6% |
| 2016 | $1.11B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BKE price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -7.5% | -10.2% | +21.2% | +10.2% | +18.2% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -7.5% |
| 2025 | +14.1% |
| 2024 | +17.6% |
| 2023 | +15.3% |
| 2022 | +10.9% |
| 2021 | +49.5% |
| 2020 | +25.0% |
| 2019 | +55.5% |
| 2018 | -7.9% |
| 2017 | +15.4% |
| 2016 | -20.1% |
| 2015 | -36.9% |
| 2014 | +4.5% |
| 2013 | +19.1% |
| 2012 | +23.2% |
| 2011 | +15.8% |
| 2010 | +41.4% |
| 2009 | +45.4% |
| 2008 | +9.1% |
| 2007 | -1.2% |
| 2006 | +68.6% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 1.8% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 62.1%, back to its old high 5.4 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 38% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 44.2%, back to its old high 7.6 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 17% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 34.5%, back to its old high 3.7 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 9 sales ($7.1M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 2026 | Kari G Smith EVP Stores, Director | sell | $2.5M |
| Apr 10, 2026 | Kari G Smith EVP Stores, Director | sell | $1.6M |
| Mar 20, 2026 | Michelle Hoffman SVP Sales | sell | $1.4M |
| Apr 10, 2026 | Michelle Hoffman SVP Sales | sell | $888K |
| Oct 15, 2026 | Bill L Fairfield Director | sell | $394K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.01% | Jun 30, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in BKE
| ONLN ProShares Online Retail ETF | 4.01% |
| SIXS ETC 6 Meridian Small Cap Equity ETF | 1.14% |
| ROSC Hartford Multifactor Small Cap ETF | 0.91% |
| MVPA Miller Value Partners Appreciation ETF | 0.83% |
| CAFG Pacer US Small Cap Cash Cows Growth Leaders ETF | 0.81% |
| SQLV Royce Quant Small‑Cap Quality Value ETF | 0.71% |
| XSHQ Invesco S&P SmallCap Quality ETF | 0.55% |
| DSMC Distillate Small/Mid Cash Flow ETF | 0.5% |
What could go wrong
- Misjudging fashion, especially denim. Sales depend on correctly guessing what fashion-conscious 15- to 30-year-olds want. Denim alone was 42.5% of net sales in the year ended January 31, 2026, so a turn away from denim could hurt.
- Profit leans on its own brands. Private labels such as BKE made up about 47% of net sales and usually earn higher margins than outside brands. If the mix shifts toward outside brands, margins and profits would fall.
- One warehouse supplies every store. All stores are supplied from a single distribution center in Kearney, Nebraska. A natural disaster or system failure there, or delays at shipping carriers, could leave stores short of stock and cut sales.
- Fewer shoppers walking through malls. Most stores are in malls and lifestyle centers, and online shopping has cut foot traffic at many malls. Buckle must keep both its stores and buckle.com profitable, with no guarantee it can.
- Tariffs and overseas production. Buckle buys some private-label goods through agents abroad, and some of its vendors make goods overseas. It has no long-term supply contracts, so new duties, tariffs or quotas could raise costs or limit supply.
- Sales swing with the economy and weather. Comparable store sales (sales at stores open at least a year) rise and fall with fashion, weather, holiday timing, competitors and the economy. Shoppers can easily put off buying clothes when budgets tighten.
Recent events
- Other company announcement
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change
- Executive or board change
For income and retirement investors
Buckle pays a large dividend, but it has not risen steadily. Dividends per share were $2.60 for the fiscal year ended in early 2021 and jumped to $6.99 the next year. They were then $4.05, $3.90, $3.90 and $4.40 for the year ended January 31, 2026. Its streak of yearly increases is just one year. Dividends took 107% of earnings and 109% of free cash flow (cash left after running and investing in the business), so they were more than profits. Buckle bought back no shares in the five fiscal years to January 2026, and its share count rose 3.5% between December 2021 and September 2026. The yield was 9.68% as of October 28, 2026.
In past sell-offs the shares fell hard but recovered within months. They fell 62.1% in late 2008 (back by May 2009), 44.2% in early 2020 (back by November 2020) and 34.5% in 2022 (back by October 2022). A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does Buckle make money?
Buckle makes money by selling casual clothing, shoes and accessories in its own stores and on buckle.com. As of January 31, 2026, it had 440 stores in 42 states, mostly in malls and lifestyle centers. Denim made up 42.5% of net sales in the year ended that day, and tops made up 28.9%. About 47% of sales came from its own private labels, which usually earn higher margins than outside brands such as Levi's and Wrangler. Revenue for that year was about $1.30 billion.
Does Buckle raise its dividend every year?
No. Buckle's dividend per share has moved up and down. It was $6.99 for the fiscal year ended in early 2022. It then fell to $4.05, slipped to $3.90, held at $3.90 and rose to $4.40 for the year ended January 31, 2026. That makes its streak of increases just one year. Over five years the dividend still grew from $2.60 a share, about 11.1% a year on average, but it did not rise steadily.
Why is Buckle's dividend yield so high?
Buckle pays out more than it earns, and as of October 28, 2026 its shares traded at about 11 times earnings. The yield (a year's dividends divided by the share price) was 9.68% on that date. Dividends took 107% of earnings and 109% of free cash flow for the year ended January 31, 2026. Paying out more than it earns uses up cash reserves, so keeping a payout this large may depend on profits growing.
Does Buckle have any debt?
Buckle appears to have no debt, because no borrowings show up in its filings. As of August 1, 2026, it held $322.9 million in cash and investments, with total assets of $1.09 billion and shareholders' equity of $489.0 million. That cash gives it a cushion for the dividend and for weak seasons. Buckle does sign leases for its stores, though. Rent is a fixed cost that it owes whether sales are strong or weak.
How volatile is Buckle stock?
Its price swings widely, though not in step with the broad market. Over the year to October 28, 2026, its volatility (a measure of how much the price bounces around) was 29.6%. Its deepest drop from a high in that year was 29.3%. Its beta, which measures how much a stock moves with the market, was 0.34, so its moves were only loosely linked to the market's. Its largest drop in about 21 years of price history was 69.1%.