| SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES | SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Fiscal Year - The Buckle, Inc. (the “Company”) has its fiscal year end on the Saturday nearest January 31. All references in these consolidated financial statements to fiscal years are to the calendar year in which the fiscal year begins. Fiscal 2023 represents the 53-week period ended February 3, 2024, fiscal 2022 represents the 52-week period ended January 28, 2023, and fiscal 2021 represents the 52-week period ended January 29, 2022. Nature of Operations - The Company is a retailer of medium to better-priced casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for fashion-conscious young men and women. The Company operates its business as one reportable segment and sells its merchandise through its retail stores and e-Commerce platform. The Company operated 444 stores located in 42 states throughout the United States as of February 3, 2024. During fiscal 2023, the Company opened 9 new stores, substantially remodeled 18 stores, and closed 6 stores. During fiscal 2022, the Company opened 4 new stores, substantially remodeled 23 stores, and closed 3 stores. During fiscal 2021, the Company opened 1 new store, substantially remodeled 15 stores, and closed 4 stores. Principles of Consolidation - The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of The Buckle, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Revenue Recognition - Retail store sales are recorded, net of expected returns, upon the purchase of merchandise by customers. Online sales are recorded, net of expected returns, when the merchandise is tendered for delivery to the common carrier. Shipping fees charged to customers are included in revenue and shipping costs are included in selling expenses. The Company recognizes revenue from sales made under its layaway program upon delivery of the merchandise to the customer. Revenue is not recorded when gift cards and gift certificates are sold, but rather when a card or certificate is redeemed for merchandise. A current liability for unredeemed gift cards and certificates is recorded at the time the card or certificate is purchased. The liability recorded for unredeemed gift certificates and gift cards was $16,667 and $16,777 as of February 3, 2024 and January 28, 2023, respectively. Gift card and gift certificate breakage is recognized as revenue in proportion to the redemption pattern of customers by applying an estimated breakage rate. The estimated breakage rate is based on historical issuance and redemption patterns and is re-assessed by the Company on a regular basis. Sales tax collected from customers is excluded from revenue and is included as part of accrued store operating expenses on the Company's consolidated balance sheets. The Company establishes a liability for estimated merchandise returns, based upon the historical average sales return percentage, that is recognized at the transaction value. The Company also recognizes a return asset and a corresponding adjustment to cost of sales for the Company's right to recover returned merchandise, which is measured at the estimated carrying value, less any expected recovery costs. The accrued liability for reserve for sales returns was $2,551 as of February 3, 2024 and $2,979 as of January 28, 2023. The Company's Buckle Rewards program allows participating guests to earn points for every qualifying purchase, which (after achievement of certain point thresholds) are redeemable as a discount off a future purchase. In addition, through partnership with Bread Financial and Comenity Bank (collectively the "Bank"), the Company offers a private label credit card ("PLCC") program. Buckle Rewards members with a PLCC earn additional points under the Buckle Rewards program for every qualifying purchase on their PLCC card. Reported revenue is net of both current period reward redemptions and accruals for estimated future rewards earned under the Buckle Rewards program. A liability has been recorded for future rewards based on the Company's estimate of how many earned points will turn into rewards and ultimately be redeemed prior to expiration. As of February 3, 2024 and January 28, 2023, $10,355 and $10,137 was included in accrued store operating expenses as a liability for estimated future rewards. Effective July 1, 2022, the Company entered into a new five year agreement (the "Agreement") with the Bank, to continue providing guests with PLCC services. Each PLCC bears the Buckle brand logo and can only be used at the Company's retail locations and eCommerce platform. The Bank is the sole owner of the accounts issued under the PLCC program and bears full risk associated with guest non-payment. As part of the Agreement, the Company receives a percentage of PLCC sales from the Bank, along with other incentive payments upon the achievement of certain performance targets. All amounts received from the Bank under the Agreement are recorded in net sales in the consolidated statements of income. Cash and Cash Equivalents - The Company considers all debt instruments with an original maturity of three months or less when purchased to be cash equivalents. Investments - Investments classified as short-term investments include securities with a maturity of greater than three months and less than one year. Available-for-sale securities are reported at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses excluded from earnings and reported as a separate component of stockholders’ equity (net of the effect of income taxes), using the specific identification method, until they are sold. Held-to-maturity securities are carried at amortized cost. Trading securities are reported at fair value, with unrealized gains and losses included in earnings, using the specific identification method. Inventory - Inventory is valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined using an average cost method that approximates the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method. Management makes adjustments to inventory and cost of goods sold, based upon estimates, to account for merchandise obsolescence and markdowns that could affect net realizable value, based on assumptions using calculations applied to current inventory levels within each different markdown level. Management also reviews the levels of inventory in each markdown group and the overall aging of the inventory versus the estimated future demand for such product and the current market conditions. The adjustment to inventory for markdowns and/or obsolescence reduced the Company’s inventory valuation by $9,113 and $6,295 as of February 3, 2024 and January 28, 2023, respectively. Property and Equipment - Property and equipment are stated on the basis of historical cost. Depreciation is provided using a combination of accelerated and straight-line methods based upon the estimated useful lives of the assets. The majority of property and equipment have useful lives of 5 to 10 years with the exception of buildings, which have estimated useful lives of 31.5 to 39 years. Leasehold improvements are stated on the basis of historical cost and are amortized over the shorter of the life of the lease or the estimated economic life of the assets. When circumstances indicate the carrying values of long-lived assets may be impaired, an evaluation is performed on current net book value amounts. Judgments made by the Company related to the expected useful lives of property and equipment and the ability to realize cash flows in excess of carrying amounts of such assets are affected by factors such as changes in economic conditions and changes in operating performance. As the Company assesses the expected cash flows and carrying amounts of long-lived assets, adjustments are made to such carrying values. Pre-Opening Expenses - Costs related to opening new stores are expensed as incurred. Advertising Costs - Advertising costs are expensed as incurred and were $21,262, $19,227, and $16,880 for fiscal years 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively. Health Care Costs - The Company is self-funded for health and dental claims up to $200 per individual per plan year. The Company’s plan covers eligible employees, and management makes estimates at period end to record a reserve for unpaid claims based upon historical claims information. The accrued liability as a reserve for unpaid health care claims was $930 and $792 as of February 3, 2024 and January 28, 2023, respectively. Leases - The Company's lease portfolio is primarily comprised of leases for retail store locations. The Company also leases certain equipment and corporate office space. Store leases for new stores typically have an initial term of 10 years, with options to renew for an additional 1 to 5 years. The exercise of lease renewal options is at the Company's sole discretion and is included in the lease term for calculations of its right-of-use assets and liabilities when it is reasonably certain that the Company plans to renew these leases. Certain store lease agreements include rental payments based on a percentage of retail sales over contractual levels and others include rental payments adjusted periodically for inflation. Lease agreements do not contain any residual value guarantees, material restrictive covenants, or options to purchase the leased property. The Company records its lease liabilities at the present value of the lease payments not yet paid, discounted at the rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow on a collateralized basis over a similar term. As the Company's leases do not provide an implicit interest rate, the Company obtains an incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. The Company has elected to apply the practical expedient to account for lease components (e.g. fixed payments for rent, insurance, and real estate taxes) and non-lease components (e.g. fixed payments for common area maintenance) together as a single component for all underlying asset classes. Additionally, the Company elected as an accounting policy to exclude short-term leases from the recognition requirements. Other Income - The Company’s other income is derived primarily from interest and dividends received on cash and investments. Income Taxes - The Company records a deferred tax asset and liability for expected future tax consequences resulting from temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities. The Company considers future taxable income and ongoing tax planning in assessing the value of its deferred tax assets. If the Company determines that it is more than likely that these assets will not be realized, the Company would reduce the value of these assets to their expected realizable value, thereby decreasing net income. If the Company subsequently determined that the deferred tax assets, which had been written down, would be realized in the future, such value would be increased, thus increasing net income in the period such determination was made. The Company records tax benefits only for tax positions that are more than likely to be sustained upon examination by tax authorities. The amount recognized is measured as the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50% likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement. Unrecognized tax benefits are tax benefits claimed in the Company’s tax returns that do not meet these recognition and measurement standards. Financial Instruments and Credit Risk Concentrations - Financial instruments, which potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk, are primarily cash, investments, and accounts receivable. The Company’s investments are primarily in tax-free municipal bonds, corporate bonds, or U.S. Treasury securities with short-term maturities. The majority of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents are held by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. This amount, as well as cash and investments held by certain other financial institutions, exceeds federally insured limits. Concentrations of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable are limited due to the nature of the Company’s receivables, which include primarily employee receivables that can be offset against future compensation. The Company’s financial instruments have a fair value approximating the carrying value. Earnings Per Share - Basic earnings per share data are based on the weighted average outstanding common shares during the period. Diluted earnings per share data are based on the weighted average outstanding common shares and the effect of all dilutive potential common shares. Use of Estimates - The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of certain assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from these estimates. Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements - In November 2023, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires enhanced disclosures around significant segment expenses. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2024. The ASU requires public entities to adopt this new guidance on a retrospective basis. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that the new ASU will have on its disclosures. In December 2023, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which requires business entities to expand their annual disclosures of income taxes paid and the effective rate reconciliation. The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. The Company plans to adopt ASU 2023-09 effective for fiscal 2025. Supplemental Cash Flow Information - The Company had non-cash investing activities during fiscal years 2023, 2022, and 2021 of $(1,031), $(1,098), and $(637), respectively. The non-cash investing activity relates to the change in the balance of unpaid purchases of property, plant, and equipment included in accounts payable as of the end of the year. The liability for unpaid purchases of property, plant, and equipment included in accounts payable was $3,485, $2,454, and $1,356 as of February 3, 2024, January 28, 2023, and January 29, 2022, respectively. Amounts reported as unpaid purchases are recorded as cash outflows from investing activities for purchases of property, plant, and equipment in the consolidated statement of cash flows in the period they are paid. Additional cash flow information for the Company includes cash paid for income taxes during fiscal years 2023, 2022, and 2021 of $60,598, $81,135, and $98,522, respectively. |
