Forensic Analysis · Apparel & Specialty Retail · as of Nov 8, 2026
Buckle Inc (BKE)
A forensic read on Buckle Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
4.6
Distress distance
2
Forensic signals
49.4%
ROE
6.6%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Buckle Inc earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 4.6, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of NOA).
What the filings flag
+11.0%
FY2025→FY2026
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +11.0% relative to their own average in FY2026 — scaled by NOA itself, not by total assets, which is what the Forensic Screens card's own accrual row divides by. Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. The build is led by receivables up +62% against revenue +7% and inventory up +15% against +6% in cost of sales. A cash-flow measure on the same base disagrees: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 25% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 11.0%. The two are computed differently: the accruals ratio is the change in net operating assets over average net operating assets, while the cash-flow figure is net income less operating cash flow over that same average. Read them as two results, not one.Accruals ratio: the year-over-year change in net operating assets, relative to their own average.NOA (net operating assets): the money tied up in running the business, operating assets minus operating liabilities.
109% of FCF
FY2026
Shareholder returns.Returned $225M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2026 — 109% of free cash flow. That is $19M (9%) more than free cash flow covered. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash, short-term investments and long-term marketable securities fell $12M over FY2026 — $12M of the $19M. The FY2026 cash-flow statement filed $39M of investments purchased; $6M from sales of property and equipment; net cash used in investing activities of $44M; net cash used in financing activities of $225M. That ratio has been CLIMBING past free cash flow — 91% of free cash flow two years back — not just sitting there. Counting the $16M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 117%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$1.30B
Revenue Growth YoY+6.6%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+1.4%
Net Margin16.2%
Free Cash Flow$205.8M
Return on Equity49.4%
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Buckle Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?