Dave & Buster's
Pairs arcade games and bowling with full-service dining across two family- and adult-oriented venue brands.
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Profile
Runs two entertainment-and-dining banners — an adult-leaning arcade-and-sports-bar concept and a family-oriented bowling-and-laser-tag brand added by acquisition — as a single reported business. High-margin arcade play subsidizes the on-site restaurant kitchen, and the format has no delivery equivalent, keeping the two brands tied to consumers walking through the door.
Operates two entertainment-and-dining banners: Dave & Buster's, an adult-leaning box pairing arcade games with a full-service sports-bar restaurant, and Main Event, a family-oriented concept added through a 2022 acquisition that layers in bowling, laser tag and VR.
Both brands are run and reported as one segment; the arcade side is the profit engine, generating a high-margin, low-cost revenue stream that subsidizes the traditional restaurant kitchen sharing the same roof.
Locations sit almost entirely in North America, with a small international franchise footprint just beginning to open. The format depends on in-person visits — there is no delivery equivalent — and the Main Event acquisition was funded with new borrowings that raised leverage.
Company facts
Key statistics
Year to date −44.8% · Average volume (30d) 1.4M
Analysts
Ratings
Target range
Latest analyst notes
| Date | Firm | Action | Prior rating | Rating | Prior target | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 29, 2026 | Citigroup | Initiate | Market Perform | |||
| Jun 16, 2026 | UBS | Reiterate | Neutral | $13 | $12 | |
| Jun 16, 2026 | BMO Capital | Reiterate | Outperform | $30 | $22 | |
| Jun 16, 2026 | Benchmark | Downgrade | Buy | Hold | ||
| Mar 26, 2026 | UBS | Target | $19 | $13 |
Earnings
EPS
Revenue
History
| Report date | EPS est | EPS | Surprise | Revenue est | Revenue | Surprise | Next session |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 15, 2026Q1 FY26 | $0.37 | $0.22 | −40.5% | $580.6M | $559.2M | −3.7% | −6.25% |
| Mar 31, 2026Q4 FY25 | $0.39 | −$0.35 | −189.7% | $555.9M | $529.6M | −4.7% | +16.07% |
| Dec 9, 2025Q3 FY25 | −$1.16 | −$1.14 | +1.7% | $556.6M | $448.2M | −19.5% | +13.02% |
| Sep 15, 2025Q2 FY25 | $0.88 | $0.40 | −54.5% | $460.6M | $557.4M | +21.0% | −16.74% |
Financial highlights
| 12 quarters | Q4 FY24 | Q1 FY25 | Q2 FY25 | Q3 FY25 | Q4 FY25 | Q1 FY26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $534.5M | $567.7M | $557.4M | $448.2M | $529.6M | $559.2M | |
| Gross profit | $457.0M | $485.6M | $481.0M | $384.7M | $451.4M | $81.7M | |
| Operating income | $50.2M | $69.3M | $57.1M | −$11.5M | −$9.7M | $54.2M | |
| Net income | $9.3M | $21.7M | $11.4M | −$42.1M | −$39.7M | $5.7M | |
| Diluted EPS | $0.24 | $0.62 | $0.32 | −$1.22 | −$1.14 | $0.16 | |
| Gross margin | 85.5% | 85.5% | 86.3% | 85.8% | 85.2% | 14.6% | |
| Operating margin | 9.4% | 12.2% | 10.2% | -2.6% | -1.8% | 9.7% |
Fiscal years (4-quarter sums)FY21 $1.30B · FY22 $1.96B · FY23 $2.21B · FY24 $2.13B · FY25 $2.10B
Revenue by product · Q1 FY26
Balance sheet, May 5, 2026Cash & short-term investments $19.6M · Total debt $3.15B · Total assets $4.14B · Shareholders' equity $99.6M
Dividends
No dividends on record.
Ownership
A 13F quarter can total more than the shares outstanding — sub-advisers file the same block twice, and a filer's own share count can be a quarter stale. No split is drawn from it.
Shares outstanding 34.79M · Float 33.78M · 97.1% free float
Top shareholders13F · 13D/G · Form 4
| Holder | Shares | % outstanding | Form | Filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hill Path Capital LP | 7.12M | 20.46% | 13F | Aug 14, 2026 |
| BlackRock, Inc. | 3.22M | 9.26% | 13F | Aug 7, 2026 |
| Nomura Holdings Inc | 2.41M | 6.93% | 13F | Aug 14, 2026 |
| The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | 2.27M | 6.50% | 13G | Aug 13, 2026 |
| Arrowstreet Capital, Limited Partnership | 1.80M | 5.20% | 13G | Aug 13, 2026 |
Insider tradesForm 4
| Date | Insider | Role | Shares | Avg price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 2026 | Steve Klohn | officer: SVP Chief Information Officer | −6,989 | $14.69 |
| Sep 18, 2025 | Tarun Lal | director, officer: Chief Executive Officer | +2,500 | $20.52 |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Tarun Lal | director, officer: Chief Executive Officer | +1,000 | $18.39 |
| Jan 16, 2026 | Rodolfo Jr Rodriguez | officer: SVP, Chief Legal Officer | +730 | $20.10 |
Peers
- Lucky Strike Entertainment
Bowling-anchored eatertainment centers with the closest venue-format overlap
- Brinker International
Bar-and-grill casual dining with a sports-viewing occasion via Chili's
- AMC Entertainment
Largest US movie-theater chain competing for out-of-home entertainment spend
- BJ's Restaurants
Brewhouse casual dining with a sports-viewing bar occasion
- Cinemark
Movie-theater chain competing for discretionary out-of-home entertainment
CompareAfter-hours close
| Company | Price | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave & Buster's | $9.46 | +0.53% | $327.0M | — | — | 0.2 | −1.5% |
| Lucky Strike Entertainment | $6.46 | −0.77% | $886.0M | — | 64.2 | 0.7 | +0.9% |
| Brinker International | $230.19 | −0.04% | $9.87B | 21.2 | 17.3 | 1.7 | +5.1% |
| AMC Entertainment | $2.60 | −0.02% | $2.31B | — | — | 0.4 | +14.2% |
| BJ's Restaurants | $65.12 | +0.08% | $1.37B | 34.4 | 24.9 | 1.0 | +6.4% |
| Cinemark | $35.66 | −0.86% | $4.17B | 20.0 | 15.5 | 1.2 | +15.5% |
| Median | 21.2 | 21.1 | 1.0 | +6.4% |