Zacks Research Has Pessimistic View of PLAY FY2025 Earnings

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:PLAY) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research lowered their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research report issued on Monday, November 25th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the restaurant operator will earn $2.54 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.63. The consensus estimate for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s current full-year earnings is $2.62 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s Q1 2026 earnings at $1.14 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.08 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.18 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.92 EPS.

PLAY has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Benchmark started coverage on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Loop Capital cut their price target on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.57.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLAY opened at $37.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.10. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment has a 52-week low of $29.31 and a 52-week high of $69.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.54, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 2.13.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 10th. The restaurant operator reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.28. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment had a return on equity of 51.75% and a net margin of 5.10%. The company had revenue of $557.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLAY. Eminence Capital LP grew its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 69.3% during the 2nd quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,768,476 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $150,023,000 after buying an additional 1,542,154 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 104.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,225,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $48,767,000 after buying an additional 626,497 shares in the last quarter. Sea Cliff Partners Management LP grew its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 90.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sea Cliff Partners Management LP now owns 515,043 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $20,504,000 after buying an additional 245,043 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 640,096 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,482,000 after buying an additional 170,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,191,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

In other news, CEO Christopher Daniel Morris purchased 14,912 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $33.67 per share, for a total transaction of $502,087.04. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,823,128.49. This represents a 21.63 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Company Profile

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc owns and operates entertainment and dining venues for adults and families. Its venues offer a menu of entrees and appetizers, as well as a selection of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages; and an assortment of entertainment attractions centered on playing games and watching live sports, and other televised events.