Dave & Buster's Q1 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Decline Y/Y

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. PLAY reported first-quarter fiscal 2025 results, with earnings missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate and revenues beating the same. Both metrics declined on a year-over-year basis.

The management expressed optimism over the company’s ongoing recovery, noting that while fiscal first-quarter results remained below expectations, the ongoing execution of its “back to basics” strategy has led to notable improvements in the performance. It highlighted that corrective actions across marketing, operations, menu, remodels and game investments have been gaining traction. Encouraging early June results and a strong financial position support the company's outlook for sustained growth and long-term shareholder value creation.

Following the results, the company’s shares increased 4.8% in the after-hours trading session yesterday.

Dave & Buster’s Q1 Earnings & Revenues

For the fiscal first quarter, the company reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 76 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 96 cents. In the year-ago quarter, it posted an adjusted EPS of $1.12. (See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.)

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. Quote

Quarterly revenues totaled $567.7 million, beating the consensus mark of $564 million. The top line declined 3.5% from $588.1 million reported in the prior-year quarter.

Food and Beverage revenues (35.4% of total revenues in the reported quarter) declined 0.6% year over year to $201.1 million. Our estimate was $196.6 million.

Entertainment revenues (64.6%) fell 5% year over year to $366.6 million. Our estimate was $371.4 million.

Comparable store sales (including Main Event-branded locations) declined 8.3% year over year. Sequentially, the company reported notable improvement in comps trends, from a decline of 11.9% in February to a 4.3% fall in April. Quarter to date (through June 2, 2025), the metric was down 2.2% year over year.

Dave & Buster’s Q1 Operating Highlights

During the fiscal first quarter, operating income amounted to $63.2 million compared with $85.5 million reported in the year-ago quarter. The operating margin contracted to 11.1% from 14.5% in the prior-year period. Our estimate for the metric was 12.9%.

Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter was $136.1 million compared with $159.1 million in the year-earlier quarter. Our estimate for the metric was $137.4 million. The EBITDA margin declined to 24% from 27.1% reported in the prior-year period.

Balance Sheet of PLAY

As of May 5, 2025, cash and cash equivalents were $11.9 million compared with $6.9 million as of Feb. 4, 2025.

At quarter-end, net long-term debt was approximately $1.57 billion compared with $1.48 billion at the end of fiscal 2024. The company maintains available liquidity of $423.2 million, including its revolving credit facility.

Dave & Buster’s Store Development Updates

Dave & Buster’s continues to advance its growth initiatives through new store openings and remodels. During the fiscal first quarter, the company opened two new stores and completed one store relocation. Since quarter-end, two additional stores have been opened. The company also completed 13 remodels as part of its store-refresh program.

PLAY’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Dave & Buster’s currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector are Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. SFM, BJ's Restaurants, Inc. BJRI and Wingstop Inc. WING.

Sprouts Farmers currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.

The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 16.5%, on average. Sprouts Farmers stock has gained 27.4% in the year-to-date period. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Sprouts Farmers’ 2025 sales and EPS indicates growth of 13.7% and 35.5%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

BJ's Restaurants presently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The stock has inched up 23.1% in the year-to-date period. BJ's Restaurants delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 30.9%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BJ's Restaurants’ 2025 sales and EPS implies growth of 3.1% and 21.1%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

Wingstop presently holds a Zacks Rank #2. The company delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 6.1%, on average. The stock has gained 34.2% in the year-to-date period.
 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Wingstop’s 2025 sales and EPS indicates an increase of 16.8% and 6.6%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

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

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