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TickerTalks›$PLAY
PLPLAY

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc.

$PLAY·$377M·Leisure·Consumer Cyclical
$10.840.0%YTD-33.6%1Y-62.9%
Mentions · last 7 days
2026-07-25: 212 posts2026-07-26: 163 posts2026-07-27: 205 posts2026-07-28: 393 posts2026-07-29: 485 posts2026-07-30: 566 posts2026-07-31: 226 posts2,283+13%
Price updated 3d ago·X counts updated 3d ago
PLPLAY
$PLAYDave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc.
$10.840.00%2.3k posts+13%
AI analysisFundamentalsVoices on X
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AI verdict & sentimentAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Top X posts

Today's AI verdict on what's driving $PLAY, plus how loud the X conversation is and which way it's leaning.

AI analysis

TickerTalks’ read on the fundamentals and what’s driving the move.

Broken storySelling offAI verdict · as of 2026-07-31

Falling on heavy selling — points lower unless it turns around.

Dave & Buster's is a leveraged out-of-home entertainment chain running out of margin runway — the tape is telling you it before the earnings do.

Dave & Buster's is the arcade-plus-restaurant chain whose model depends on discretionary spend and repeat traffic. Same-store visits have been drifting lower for a year, and the balance sheet — over 30x debt-to-equity — leaves almost no room for a soft print.

  • The tape damage is severe: the stock is at the 7th percentile of its 52-week range, down 34% YTD and 64% over the trailing year, and 24% below its 200-day — a full-blown breakdown, not a routine drawdown.
  • The fundamentals confirm it: Q1 EPS of $0.22 missed by 41% (vs $0.37), Q4 came in at -$1.14 versus $0.39 expected (a 190% miss), and revenue has been in modest year-on-year decline every quarter — consumer softness plus operating deleverage is a bad combination in this cost structure.
  • The capital structure amplifies every miss: debt-to-equity above 30x and negative free-cash-flow yield mean a single bad quarter can force restructuring conversations that don't show up in current consensus.

This is a stock priced for stress and the business is delivering it — the annual meeting where director Ross failed to receive majority support is the kind of governance signal that follows deterioration, not one that precedes recovery. What restarts a real bull case is a Sept 21 print showing same-store traffic bottoming; what confirms breakdown is another EPS miss or a covenant-related disclosure.

Differs from X sentimentThe X chatter around PLAY is memecoin-style pump talk — 'next $ON', 'ready to pump 2x-4x', $0.5 targets, 'aping in' — with only 5 posts analyzed, so it is unreliable retail hype rather than any real thesis; disagreeing because the fundamentals (34x DE, -40% EPS miss, 64% T12M drawdown) point clearly the other way.

What to watch: The Sept 21 Q2 print — specifically same-store sales year-on-year and any commentary on covenant headroom. A stabilization in same-store traffic and a positive EPS surprise are the only combination that puts a floor under the stock; another miss reopens the restructuring conversation.

On the calendar: 2026-09-21 — Q2 2026 earnings

X sentiment

What the X crowd is saying right now — descriptive, summarised from the day’s posts.

Bullish sentiment6 posts analyzed · as of 2026-08-01

PLAY chatter is dominated by a crypto memecoin community, not Dave & Busters. Framing is uniformly bullish TA: ascending-triangle breakout targeting 2x-4x with '$PLAY is the next $ON' comparisons, still in uptrend and 'retest' pump in progress. Some memecoins pitch $0.5 as the next expansion target. A separate P2E TCG (pack-opening 'gotta catch 'em all') is cited as the fundamentals underlying one of the plays.

Read the AI verdict + X sentiment for $PLAY

  • One-line verdict on what's driving the move — fundamentals, momentum, both, or an event
  • Next dated catalyst when there is one (earnings, deal closing, activist clock)
  • X crowd read with bullish/bearish call + post volume
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What it does

Plain-English summary of the business — what they sell and how they make money.

Operates 150+ dining and entertainment venues combining restaurant meals with arcade games under the Dave & Buster's brand.

Industry overviewAI analysisGenerated by AI from underlying data

Where Leisure sits in its cycle right now — and what that implies for $PLAY.

Leisure · Consumer Cyclical

No material change from last week — Carnival cruises benefit from sustained demand post-pandemic while Arc'teryx and Salomon capture premium outdoor lifestyle spending.

What this means for $PLAY

Direct beneficiary — Operates 150+ dining and entertainment venues combining restaurant meals with arcade games under the Dave & Buster's brand; core revenue tied directly to the primary demand driver in media & entertainment.

Industry benchmark

4-name peer basket
-6.9%YTD
-8.5%1Y

Fundamentals & catalyst

Profitability, valuation, and the next earnings event — at a glance, with rule-of-thumb signals.

Key ratios

P/E
-6.0How much investors are paying per dollar of profit the company actually earned in the last 12 months. Lower means the stock looks cheaper relative to earnings.~15–25 is typical for the S&P 500; high-growth names trade 30+; hyper-growth or speculative can be 100+ or negative.
ROIC
1.8%What percentage return the business earns on every dollar of capital (equity + debt) deployed in operations. The cleanest measure of business quality.Above ~15% is high-quality; consistently above 25% suggests a real moat. Below the company's cost of capital is value-destroying.
Op margin
4.3%Operating profit (after sales, marketing, R&D, and overhead but before interest and taxes) as a percentage of revenue. The clearest view of how well the underlying business is run.Mature business above 20% is healthy; software businesses can run 30%+; commodity / retail businesses operate in single digits.
FCF yield
-8.6%Free cash flow (operating cash flow minus capex) divided by the company's market cap. The cash-on-cash return you'd get owning the whole business at today's price.Above ~5% is attractive; below ~2% means you're paying up for growth. Capital-light businesses (software) run higher than capital-heavy ones (utilities).
P/S
0.2Same idea as P/E but per dollar of revenue. Useful for companies that aren't profitable yet, where P/E is meaningless.Under ~2 is cheap; software / SaaS often runs 8–15; well above 20 implies the market is pricing in very high future growth.
ROE
-53.1%Net income as a percentage of shareholders' equity. Similar to ROIC but counts only the equity side.Above 20% is strong, but can be inflated by leverage — a heavily indebted company can show high ROE with weak underlying ROIC.
Gross margin
66.8%Revenue minus the direct cost of producing what was sold, as a percentage of revenue. The first read on whether the product is structurally profitable.Software / SaaS is typically 70%+; consumer goods 30–50%; commodity / hardware businesses can be under 20%.
D/E
31.6Total debt divided by shareholders' equity. Measures how much the business runs on borrowed money versus owner capital.Under 1 is conservative; 1–2 is typical for mature businesses; over 2 is leveraged and more sensitive to interest rates.

Past earnings

QuarterReportedActualEstimateSurprise
Q1 2026Jun 15, 2026$0.22$0.37-40.5%
Q4 2025Mar 31, 2026$-0.35$0.39-189.7%
Q3 2025Dec 9, 2025$-1.14$-1.16+1.7%
Q2 2025Sep 15, 2025$0.40$0.88-54.5%
Next earningsMon, Sep 21·consensus EPS $0.19

Quarterly trend

QuarterRevenueYoYGrossOpEPSFCF
Q1 FY26$559.2M-1.5%14.6%9.7%$0.16$8.5M
Q4 FY25$529.6M-0.9%85.2%-1.8%$-1.14$34.0M
Q3 FY25$448.2M-1.1%85.8%-2.6%$-1.22$-20.6M
Q2 FY25$557.4M+0.1%86.3%10.2%$0.33$-55.2M

Forward consensus

4-year forecast · up to 8 analysts
FYRevenueRangeEPSRangeAnalysts
FY26$2.1B$2.1B – $2.1B$0.13$0.12 – $0.137
FY27$2.1B$2.1B – $2.1B-$0.84-$1.03 – -$0.598
FY28$2.2B$2.2B – $2.2B-$0.20-$0.31 – -$0.118
FY29$2.3B$2.2B – $2.4B-$0.85-$0.87 – -$0.832

Setup & momentum

Volume, range, and moving-average position — the technical setup driving short-term moves.

Right now

Vol vs 30dToday's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.0.7×Today's traded share volume divided by the average over the prior 30 trading days. ≥3× signals unusual interest; below 1× is quiet.
52w rangeWhere the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.7%Where the latest close sits between the 52-week low (0%) and high (100%). Above 80% is extended; below 30% is basing or in a downtrend.
vs 50d MALatest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.-3.7%Latest close vs the 50-day simple moving average. Positive = short-term trend is up.
vs 200d MALatest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.-24.0%Latest close vs the 200-day simple moving average. Positive = long-term trend is up.

Float & profile

FloatLow float · 33.8M shFree-float shares — the slice of issued stock actually available to trade. Lower buckets squeeze harder on a catalyst.Traded today3.2% of floatToday's volume as a percent of the free float. Above 5% on a single day is unusually high turnover for the available share count.β1.845-year weekly beta vs the S&P 500. Above 1.5 means the stock typically moves more than the index; below 0.8 moves less.

Insider activity

Recent open-market buys and sells by officers and directors — flagged when multiple insiders cluster.

Recent transactions

SellApr 17Steve KlohnSVP Chief Information Officer7.0K sh$103K
+ 33 other (24 awards · 9 inkinds) in window

See when $PLAY insiders are putting their own money in

  • Real-time open-market buys and sells from Form 4 filings
  • Cluster-buy detection when multiple insiders pile in at once
  • 30 / 60 / 180-day windows so you can spot building conviction
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SEC filings

Material 8-K, 13D, S-3, and 424B5 events from the last 180 days — the filings that actually move the price.

Recent material filings

8-KShareholder voteJun 258-K — Item 5.07: Shareholder vote
AI summary

Dave & Buster's held its 2026 Annual Meeting on June 18, 2026. Six of seven director nominees were elected; notably Scott I. Ross failed to receive a majority of votes cast (8.67M for vs. 10.57M against) while the other six nominees each received 16.5M–18.3M votes in favor. Despite losing the majority vote, the board composition and outcomes for the other proposals (not reproduced here) are pending. A majority-vote failure for a director nominee is a significant governance signal and warrants follow-up on whether Ross resigned or the board took action.

3New insider — initial holdingsJun 223
AI summary

Form 3 filed by Tucker Jeremy (Other (specify below) Chief Marketing Officer 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned 1. Title of Security (Instr. 4) 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4) 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5) Common Stock 0 D Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) 1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4) 2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year) 3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4) 4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 5. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5) Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares Explanation of Responses: Sherri M. Smith 06/22/2026 ** Signature of Reporting Person Date Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly. * If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5 (b)(v). ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number. * Form 3: SEC 1473 (03-26)) at PLAY on 2026-06-22. This initial statement of beneficial ownership reports the filer's securities holdings as required under Section 16(a). Filing is routine and indicates an insider's initial ownership disclosure following appointment or acquisition of 10%+ stake.

3New insider — initial holdingsJun 153
AI summary

Rachel Morgan filed a Form 3 on June 8, 2026, as a newly appointed officer of Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (PLAY), serving as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, and reports direct ownership of 0 shares of common stock at the time of filing. This is a routine initial ownership statement for a new executive hire with no immediate financial impact.

3New insider — initial holdingsMay 133
AI summary

Kevin Fish filed a Form 3 (initial statement of beneficial ownership) as newly appointed SVP, Chief Technology and Digital Officer of Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (PLAY) as of May 13, 2026, reporting zero directly-held common shares and no derivative securities at appointment. Routine administrative filing — no economic stake at the time of filing; no market impact.

3New insider — initial holdingsMay 43
AI summary

Charles Protell filed a Form 3 (initial statement of beneficial ownership) for Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. on May 4, 2026, reporting his position as a Director effective April 27, 2026, with zero directly-held shares. Routine insider ownership filing for a new board member — compensation grants to the new director would appear in subsequent Form 4 filings.

8-KOfficer or director changeMay 18-K — Item 5.02: Officer or director change · Item 7.01: Press release / Reg FD
AI summary

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. filed an 8-K under Items 5.02 (officer/director change) and 7.01 (Reg FD) on May 1, 2026, disclosing a leadership change alongside a furnished investor presentation. No specific names or roles are visible in the excerpt. A combined leadership change and investor presentation filing could indicate an executive appointment coinciding with a strategic update — worth checking the attached exhibit for context on D&B's turnaround strategy.

+ 11 other (4 13Gs · 2 earnings 8-Ks · 2 proxys · 1 10-Q) in window

Recent news

Latest headlines from major outlets, sourced and timestamped — context for whatever just moved.

Independent Analysis Implies ~$161.6M Enterprise Value for Airtopia Adventure Parks at Full 2028 Build-Outnewsfilecorp.com·4d agoFollow the Smoothie, Not the Beerinvestorplace.com·18d agoDave & Buster's (PLAY) Down 17.4% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Rebound?zacks.com·19d agoNew Strong Sell Stocks for July 6thzacks.com·28d agoDave & Buster's Q1 Miss Raises the Stakes for Its Turnaround Planmarketbeat.com·41d ago

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