Boot Barn's 8.4% Comps Gain Fueled by Broad-Based Category Strength

Boot Barn Holdings Inc. BOOT reported an 8.4% increase in second-quarter fiscal 2026 same-store sales. The company experienced broad-based strength across key product categories. In the work segment, work boots grew modestly in the low single digits, while work apparel saw mid-single-digit growth. The denim category achieved high teens in comparable sales growth. The ladies’ business reached mid-teen growth, and the men’s business posted high single-digit gains. These results highlighted balanced growth in both retail stores and e-commerce.

The company’s apparel momentum was driven by improved merchandising and digital initiatives. Boot Barn introduced new standalone websites for its leading exclusive brands, Cody James and Hawx, to enhance brand storytelling and attract new customers. Artificial intelligence is also a key part of Boot Barn’s strategy. The company upgraded its website search tools to provide more relevant product results and recommendations. Tools like Cassidy assist store associates and improve in-store digital experiences.

Margins also improved alongside the increase in same-store sales. Merchandise margin rose 80 basis points year over year, supported by growth in exclusive brands and disciplined pricing. Consequently, gross margin expanded 50 basis points, reaching 36.4% in the second quarter.

We note that Boot Barn Holdings' net sales grew 18.7% year over year to $505.4 million. This strong growth was driven by contributions from 64 new store openings in the past 12 months, along with consolidated same-store sales growth of 8.4%. The high single-digit increase in same-store sales included a 14.4% rise in e-commerce sales and a 7.8% increase in retail same-store sales.

How Buckle & Tractor Supply Fare

Buckle Inc. BKE reported an 8.3% year-over-year increase in net sales, reaching $305.7 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2025. Comparable sales grew 7.3% in the quarter, which stands out as relatively strong growth. Online sales increased 17.7% for the quarter. Buckle reported a gross margin of 47.4% for the quarter, marking a 50-basis-point increase year over year. The improvement stemmed from a 10-basis-point gain in merchandise margin and 40 basis points of leverage from buying, distribution, and occupancy expenses.

Tractor Supply Company TSCO posted a 7.2% year-over-year increase in net sales, reaching $3.72 billion in the third quarter of fiscal 2025. Tractor Supply also posted modest growth in comparable sales at 3.9%, against a 0.2% decrease in the year-ago period. The comparable sales growth was primarily driven by a comparable average transaction increase of 2.7%. Gross margin jumped 15 basis points to 37.4%.

The Zacks Rundown for BOOT

BOOT’s shares have gained 20.4% year to date against the industry’s decline of 16.3%. BOOT sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

From a valuation standpoint, BOOT trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05X, higher than the industry’s average 16.51X.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BOOT’s fiscal 2026 and 2027 earnings implies a year-over-year rise of 20.5% and 13.40%, respectively. BOOT delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.37%, on average.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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