The Buckle Inc. (NYSE:BKE) stock traded higher Friday after the apparel retailer reported fiscal second-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations for both earnings and sales.

Buckle reported diluted earnings of 87 cents per share, beating the 81-cent analyst estimate. Net sales rose 4.6% year over year to $319.8 million, topping the $314.6 million consensus estimate. Net income was $44.4 million, down slightly from $45 million a year earlier.

Comparable Sales Rise, Women’s Business Shines

Comparable-store sales increased 2.1%, while online sales rose 2.3% to $44.6 million. Average unit retail increased about 4.5%, while average transaction value climbed roughly 3.5%.

Women’s sales jumped 9.5% and accounted for 50% of quarterly sales, up from 47.5% a year earlier. Women’s denim sales increased 11%, while alternative pants sales surged nearly 50%. Women’s tops rose about 10.5%.

Meanwhile, the men’s business was roughly flat. Men’s denim sales fell about 3.5%, although men’s tops grew 3.5%. Buckle’s kids business increased 11%.

During the earnings call, management pointed to healthy merchandise trends beyond the tariff benefit. Buckle said full-price selling remained strong, markdowns declined and new products posted solid sell-through rates across both men’s and women’s categories. Excluding tariff refunds, merchandise margin still improved 45 basis points, helped in part by a higher mix of private-label sales.

Buckle Margin Gets Tariff Refund Boost

Gross margin increased 40 basis points to 47.8%. Merchandise margin improved 110 basis points, including a 65-basis-point benefit from tariff refunds. Strong regular-price sales, fewer markdowns and a higher private-label mix also helped margins.

However, operating margin narrowed to 17.4% from 18.4% as Buckle increased spending on marketing, store labor and other expenses.

Inventory rose 13.3% year over year to $161.4 million. The company ended the quarter with $322.9 million in cash and investments.

Buckle ended the quarter with 446 stores in 42 states, up from 440 a year earlier.

BKE Price Action: Buckle shares were up 3.03% at $43.93 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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