Zacks Research Has Optimistic Outlook of PLAY Q1 Earnings

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:PLAY) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q1 2026 earnings estimates for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a report issued on Tuesday, May 20th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the restaurant operator will post earnings of $0.96 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.94. The consensus estimate for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s current full-year earnings is $2.52 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s FY2026 earnings at $1.51 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $0.93 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $1.68 EPS.

PLAY has been the topic of several other research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $33.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $47.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $45.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $27.00 to $21.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of PLAY opened at $20.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.36 and its 200 day moving average is $25.43. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment has a fifty-two week low of $15.08 and a fifty-two week high of $52.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $708.88 million, a PE ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 7th. The restaurant operator reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 44.22%. The company had revenue of $534.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $548.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment’s quarterly revenue was down 10.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 442.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 81.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 1,427.5% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,277 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 3,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 3,974.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,360 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 4,253 shares in the last quarter. 91.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.