Which Is a Better Investment, Buckle Inc or Urban Outfitters, Inc. Stock?

By AAII Staff
April 01, 2026
Large versus logo comparing two stocks in the same industry
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Specialty Retail industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc.

The Buckle, Inc. operates as a retailer of casual apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and kids under the Buckle and Buckle Youth brands in the United States. The company markets a selection of brand name casual apparel, including denims, other casual bottoms, tops, sportswear, outerwear, accessories, and footwear, as well as private label merchandise comprising the BKE, Buckle Black, Ace High, Daytrip, Departwest, FITZ + EDDI, Freshwear, Gentry Country, Gilded Intent, Gimmicks, Maven Co-op, J.B. Holt, Modish Rebel, Nova Industries, Outpost Makers, Reclaim, Salvage, Sterling & Stitch, Veece, and Willow & Root brands. It also provides services, such as hemming, gift-packaging, layaways, a guest loyalty program, the Buckle private label credit card, personalized stylist services, and a special-order system that allows stores to obtain specifically requested merchandise from other company stores or from its online order fulfillment center. The company sells its products through its stores, as well as website, buckle.com. The company was formerly known as Mills Clothing, Inc. and changed its name to The Buckle, Inc. in April 1991. The Buckle, Inc. was incorporated in 1948 and is headquartered in Kearney, Nebraska.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. offers lifestyle products and services. The company operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Subscription. It operates Urban Outfitters stores, which offer women’s and men’s fashion apparel, activewear, intimates, footwear, accessories, home goods, electronics, and beauty products for young adults aged 18 to 28; and Anthropologie stores that provide women’s apparel, accessories, intimates, shoes, furniture, home décor, and beauty and wellness products, as well as gifts and decorative items for women aged 28 to 45. The company also operates Terrain stores that provide lifestyle home products, garden and outdoor living products, antiques, live plants, flowers, wellness products, and accessories. In addition, it operates Free People retail stores, which offer casual women’s apparel, intimates, activewear, shoes, accessories, home products, gifts, and beauty and wellness products for young women aged 25 to 30; and restaurants and event venues, as well as women’s apparel subscription rental service under the Nuuly brand. Further, the company designs, develops, and markets young women’s contemporary casual apparel, intimates, activewear, and shoes under the Free People and FP Movement brands; and apparel collections under the Urban Outfitters brand. It serves its customers directly through retail stores, websites, mobile applications, catalogs and customer contact centers, franchisee-owned stores, and department and specialty stores, as well as social media and third-party digital platforms. Urban Outfitters, Inc. was founded in 1970 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Latest Specialty Retail and The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters, Inc. Stock News

As of March 31, 2026, The Buckle, Inc. had a $2.5 billion market capitalization, compared to the Specialty Retail median of $818.3 million. The Buckle, Inc.’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and up 32.6% in the past year.

Currently, The Buckle, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 12.3. The Buckle, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.3 billion with a 16.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.237 per share for the current fiscal year. The Buckle, Inc. currently has a 8.7% dividend yield.

Currently, Urban Outfitters, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 12.0. Urban Outfitters, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $6.0 billion with a 7.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 12.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.866 per share for the current fiscal year. Urban Outfitters, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc. Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
The Buckle, Inc. BKE B
Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

The Buckle, Inc. has a Growth Score of 78, which is Strong. Urban Outfitters, Inc. has a Growth Score of 95, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Urban Outfitters, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Urban Outfitters, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than The Buckle, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Urban Outfitters, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
The Buckle, Inc. BKE A
Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

The Buckle, Inc. has a Quality Score of 81, which is Very Strong. Urban Outfitters, Inc. has a Quality Score of 95, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc. have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company Ticker Earnings Estimate
The Buckle, Inc. BKE B
Urban Outfitters, Inc. URBN B

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

The Buckle, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 71, which is Positive. Urban Outfitters, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 64, which is Positive.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade breakdown above, both The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc. have a grade of B. For those focusing solely on a company’s estimate revisions, other financial metrics will need to be evaluated to determine whether The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters or Inc. is a better fit.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc. Grades

In addition to Growth, Estimate Revisions and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Momentum.

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Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters or Inc. Stock?

Overall, The Buckle, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 78, Estimate Revisions Score of 71 and Quality Score of 81.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 95, Estimate Revisions Score of 64 and Quality Score of 95.

Comparing The Buckle, Inc., Urban Outfitters and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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