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what it is
Dave & Buster's runs 232 eat-drink-play venues across North America where your dinner competes with arcade games and live sports.
how it gets paid
Last year Play made $2.1B in revenue. amusements and other entertainment was the main engine at $1.13B, or 54% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 3.3% last year. Demand stayed weak and comparable sales have now declined for multiple quarters.
what just happened
The quarter's loudest number was -$1.14 EPS, versus a $0.90 estimate, which is a 57.89% miss.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
10/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
50.2x trailing p/e — you're paying up for this one
7.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 45/100 — below average
What they do
Dave & Buster's runs 232 eat-drink-play venues across North America where your dinner competes with arcade games and live sports.
You are not choosing between dinner, games, and a sports bar. PLAY puts all three in one box across 232 stores in 43 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada. That matters because a night out built around one venue is easier to buy than three separate stops, and harder for a single local rival to copy.
How they make money
$2.1B
annual revenue · their business grew -3.3% last year
amusements and other entertainment
$1.13B
food sales
$0.44B
beverage sales
$0.34B
events and other venue revenue
$0.19B
The products that matter
dining and bar sales
Food & Beverage
~$800M · traffic driver
it's roughly half the business in the simplified segment view. With a companywide median gross margin of 41.2%, this side brings people in but does not rescue you if traffic slips.
traffic anchor
arcade and entertainment sales
Amusements & Games
~$800M · concept differentiator
this is the part that makes Dave & Buster's more than a casual dining chain. The page does not give a segment margin, but management's whole model depends on this side carrying better economics than food.
margin driver
Key numbers
50.2x
trailing p/e
P/E -> price divided by profit -> so what: you are paying 50.2 times trailing earnings for a business with a 1.7% net margin.
$1.6B
long-term debt
Debt -> money the company owes -> so what: creditors have a bigger claim than equity investors when the business hits a rough patch.
10.3%
operating margin
Operating margin -> profit after running the business -> so what: only about 10 cents of each sales dollar stays before interest and taxes.
7.0%
return on capital
Return on capital -> profit earned on money invested -> so what: the company is generating a modest return for a venue-heavy model.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 15 / 100
- long-term debt $1.6B (69% of capital)
- net profit margin 1.7% — keeps 2 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 16% — $0.16 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in PLAY 3 years ago → it's now worth $4,520.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
The quarter's loudest number was -$1.14 EPS, versus a $0.90 estimate, which is a 57.89% miss.
Demand stayed weak and comparable sales have now declined for multiple quarters. Management is also dealing with higher operating costs, while EBITDA margin slipped to just below 10%, a multi-year low.
$1.6B
revenue
$0.26
eps
41.2%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The 57.89% EPS miss matters most because this stock already trades at 50.2x trailing earnings, leaving little room for another stumble.
-
dave & buster's continues to operate within a difficult demand environment.the recent fiscal third-quarter (ended nov. 4th) loss of $1.14 per share, was about a dime worse than our near-consensus estimate.
-
with the adjusted ebitda margin falling just below 10% (a multi-year low), the deficit was especially large for what's typically a loss-making period.looking to the close of fiscal 2025, full-year revenues are likely to finish around last year's $2.13 billion.
-
that assumes a flat showing in fourth-quarter comparable sales, following consecutive quarterly declines that stretch to early 2023.
-
at the same time, key operating costs continue to trend higher.our fourth-quarter earnings estimate of $0.38 per share assumes about a 100 basis point fall in the operating margin from last year.
-
that implies a solid increase, though, from a depressed prior-year figure.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the top risk is same-store sales erosion at Dave & Buster's. This is a fixed-cost, leveraged concept. If guest traffic stays soft, the math gets ugly quickly.
high
same-store sales keep falling
The latest quarter showed revenue of $448.2M, down 1.1% from a year ago, alongside declining comparable-store sales.
When traffic weakens, both the food side and the games side feel it. That's bad news in a business already running at a 1.1% net margin.
high
$1.6B of debt limits the comeback window
Long-term debt is $1.6B, or 69% of capital. That's a lot of leverage for a consumer business that depends on people showing up and spending freely.
If sales stay flat or drift lower, leverage stops being a footnote and becomes the entire bear case.
med
thin margins leave no shock absorber
Net profit margin is 1.1% on $2B of annual revenue. The business has scale, but it does not have much earnings cushion.
A small move in labor, rent, promotions, or interest expense can erase a big chunk of profit.
With $1.6B of debt and a 1.1% net margin, this company does not get many bad quarters in a row.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
key metric
comparable-store sales
This is the cleanest read on whether the turnaround is real. Revenue already slipped 1.1% from a year ago. You want to see traffic stabilize next.
calendar
next earnings report
The next update is expected around April 2026. One decent quarter won't fix the story, but another weak one makes the debt load feel heavier.
balance sheet
debt relative to the business
$1.6B of long-term debt equals 69% of capital. If operating performance does not improve, this stops being background noise.
leadership
Tarun Lal's first full year as CEO
He took over in July 2025. You are looking for cleaner execution, steadier traffic, and evidence that the concept still has room to win consumers back.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts do not see a clear near-term edge yet.
risk profile
elevated
stability score 4 — this stock swings more than most, and the balance sheet does not soften that.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the trend is still weak, which usually means investors want proof before they come back.
earnings predictability
10 / 100
Quarterly earnings are hard to model here. Translation: expect surprises, and not all of them pleasant.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 3 consecutive quarters — 77 buyers vs. 102 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 43.0M shares. net selling for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$12
$47
$20
current price
$30
target midpoint · +49% from current · 3-5yr high: $30 (+50% · 11% ann'l return)
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