Zacks Research Has Bearish Estimate for PLAY Q3 Earnings

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:PLAY) – Zacks Research cut their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research note issued to investors on Monday, November 25th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the restaurant operator will post earnings of ($0.43) per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of ($0.34). 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 Q3 2026 earnings at ($0.30) EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.95 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $0.99 EPS and Q3 2027 earnings at ($0.35) EPS.

PLAY has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com downgraded Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.57.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLAY opened at $37.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 2.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.54. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment has a 1-year low of $29.31 and a 1-year high of $69.82.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLAY. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 1,931.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 38,698 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 36,793 shares in the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 69.3% in the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,768,476 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $150,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,542,154 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,191,000. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,167,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 206,535 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,222,000 after buying an additional 51,022 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher Daniel Morris purchased 14,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $33.67 per share, with a total value of $502,087.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,823,128.49. This represents a 21.63 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

About Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

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.