When it comes to many of the names in the apparel sector, one of the first things I look for is a company’s ability to demonstrate improved same-store sales growth on a month-over-month basis. With that said, I wanted to take a brief look at the recent sales growth at The Buckle, Inc. (BKE) and note several reasons behind my bullish stance on the company’s stock.

Company Overview

Headquartered in Kearney, Nebraska, The Buckle, Inc. operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for young men and women in the continental United States. It markets a selection of brand name casual apparel, including denims, other casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and footwear. The company operates stores under the Buckle and The Buckle names primarily in regional shopping malls and lifestyle centers. The Buckle, Inc. also sells its products through its Website, buckle.com.

Performance & Trend Behavior

As of Wednesday's close, shares of BKE, which have fallen just about 6.5% on a year-to-date basis, possess a market cap of $2.23 billion, a forward P/E ratio of 12.89, and a dividend yield of 1.91% ($0.88). Based on their closing price of $46.16/share, shares of BKE are trading 0.70% below their 20-day simple moving average, 1.68% below their 50-day simple moving average, and 1.14% above their 200-day simple moving average.

Based on their recent trends these numbers indicate both a short term downtrend and a long term uptrend for the stock, which generally translates into a selling mode for most near-term traders and a buying mode many long-term investors. However, I strongly believe we could both see its trend behavior and share price improve in the wake of its latest same-store sales figures.

A Brief Look at The Buckle’s September Same-Store Sales Growth

On Thursday, October 9, The Buckle Inc. released its same-store sales growth for September. Included in that release were figures that included comparable store net sales, for stores open at least one year, for the 5-week period ended October 4, 2014 which increased 2.2 percent from comparable store net sales for the 5-week period ended October 5, 2013. Net sales for the 5-week fiscal period ended October 4, 2014 were also included and they increased 4.1 percent to $103.1 million from net sales of $99.1 million for the prior year 5-week fiscal period ended October 5, 2013.

Comparable store net sales year-to-date for the 35-week period ended October 4, 2014 were flat in comparison to comparable store net sales for the 35-week period ended October 5, 2013. Net sales for the 35-week fiscal period ended October 4, 2014 increased 1.7 percent to $714.2 million from net sales of $702.4 million for the prior year 35-week fiscal period ended October 5, 2013. If the company can continue demonstrate strong same-store sales figures through the end of 2014, then there’s a great chance its full-year earnings as well as its share price could demonstrate considerable growth.

Conclusion

If The Buckle, Inc. can continue to successfully enhance its same-store sales over the next few months, then I strongly believe that not only will its recent trend behavior improve over the next several months, but its full year earnings for both 2015 (in which analysts are calling for the company to earn $3.41/share on revenue of $1.15 billion) and 2016 (in which analysts are calling for the company to earn $3.57/share on revenue of $1.21 billion) should have no problem surpassing analysts’ expectations.