Will Buckle (BKE) Disappoint Earnings Estimates in Q3? - Analyst Blog

The Buckle, Inc. (BKE), the casual apparel, footwear and accessories retailer, is slated to report its third-quarter fiscal 2014 results on Nov 20. In the last quarter, it had posted a negative earnings surprise of 3.8%. Let's see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors Influencing This Quarter

Buckle, in particular, has been suffering from persistent weakness in the Women's category, which is taking the shine off its healthy Men's and accessories business. We observe that sales in the Women's category fell 4.5% year over year when the company reported sales results for the four weeks ended Nov 1, 2014. As announced on Nov 6, comparable-store sales fell 4.4% in the month of October.

Earnings Whispers?

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Buckle is likely to beat earnings estimates this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1, 2 or 3 for this to happen. This is not the case here, as you will see below:

Zacks ESP: Earnings ESP for Buckle is -2.30%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate stands at 85 cents, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at 87 cents.

Zacks Rank: Buckle currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 and 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks that Warrant a Look

Here are some companies you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements:

Best Buy Co., Inc. (BBY) has an Earnings ESP of +4.17% and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

The Michaels Companies, Inc. (MIK) has an Earnings ESP of +7.69% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) has an Earnings ESP of +3.45% and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).