Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (PLAY) stock analysis
Close on Nov 12, 2026Market cap $273.42MP/E –Yield –
StockData Score
Prices as of Nov 11, 2026How the score works
Weak4 of 30 checks passed
Dave & Buster's Entertainment passes 4 of the 30 checks behind our score; 13 could not be run for lack of data and count as not passed. Each dot in the shape is one check — hover it for the numbers.
- Valuation
- 3/6
- Growth
- 0/6
- Past performance
- 0/6
- Financial health
- 1/6
- Dividend
- 0/6
What stands out
Margin of safety over 20%
The price is 74.5% below fair value, more than the 20% cushion we look for.
Trading below fair value
The share price of $8.03 is below our fair value estimate of $31.52.
Debt covered by cash flow
Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 21.3% of total debt.
EV/EBITDA below its 5-year median
Dave & Buster's Entertainment's EV/EBITDA of 5.3 is below its 5-year median of 5.7.
What to watch
Return on capital under 10%
Return on invested capital was 1.7%, below the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.
High debt
Debt is 1715% of shareholders' equity, above the 40% we consider low.
Revenue growing under 10% a year
Revenue grew 2.3% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.
Interest not well covered
Operating income covers interest expense 0.2 times; we look for at least 5.
Valuation3/6
P/E against its history
Not enough price and earnings history to compare.
P/E against the industry
Needs positive earnings and enough profitable companies in the industry.
EV/EBITDA below its 5-year median
Dave & Buster's Entertainment's EV/EBITDA of 5.3 is below its 5-year median of 5.7.
P/B above the industry
Dave & Buster's Entertainment's price-to-book of 3.18 is above the Eating and Drinking Places median of 3.13.
Trading below fair value
The share price of $8.03 is below our fair value estimate of $31.52.
Margin of safety over 20%
The price is 74.5% below fair value, more than the 20% cushion we look for.
Growth0/6
Revenue growing under 10% a year
Revenue grew 2.3% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.
EPS growth over 3 years
Needs positive EPS three years ago and today.
Earnings acceleration
Needs positive net income now, a year ago and five years ago.
Growing slower than the industry
Revenue grew -1.5% over the last twelve months; the Eating and Drinking Places median is 5.9%.
Guidance issued
The latest outlook (fiscal 2026 free cash flow, Mar 31, 2026) was issued for the first time, so it neither adds nor takes away points.
Gross margin slipping
Gross margin was 85.4% over the last twelve months, against 85.6% a year earlier.
Past performance0/6
Return on equity
Needs positive equity and five years of results.
Return on capital under 10%
Return on invested capital was 1.7%, below the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.
Return on equity below the industry
Dave & Buster's Entertainment's return on equity of -69.7% is below the Eating and Drinking Places median of 7.9%.
Earnings over 5 years
Needs positive net income five years ago and in the latest year.
Net margin against its history
Needs five years of revenue and net income.
Net margin below the industry
Dave & Buster's Entertainment's net margin of -4.3% is below the Eating and Drinking Places median of 1.9%.
Financial health1/6
High debt
Debt is 1715% of shareholders' equity, above the 40% we consider low.
Debt rising against equity
Debt to equity rose from 389% five years ago to 1715%.
Debt covered by cash flow
Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 21.3% of total debt.
Interest not well covered
Operating income covers interest expense 0.2 times; we look for at least 5.
Short-term assets don't cover short-term debts
Current assets are 0.30 times current liabilities.
Elevated bankruptcy risk
The Altman Z-score is 0.69; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.
Dividend0/6
No dividend
Dave & Buster's Entertainment has not paid a dividend in the last twelve months.
Yield against Treasuries
No dividend.
Yield against the market
No dividend.
Dividend stability
No dividend.
Earnings cover
No dividend.
Cash-flow cover
No dividend.
Fair value
How we estimate itOur estimate per share
$31.52
The share price is 75% below this estimate.
| Method | Multiple used | Own 5Y median | Industry median | Value per share | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV/EBITDA | 8.9× | 5.7× | 12.3× | $42.40 | 58% |
| P/B | 4.1× | 5.0× | 3.1× | $10.28 | 17% |
| Earnings power | 11.4% cost of equity | – | – | $20.31 | 25% |
| Fair value | $31.52 | 100% | |||
Valuation over time
Using the earnings and balance sheet published at each date, not today's.
- P/E at month end
- Own 5-year median 15.0
- Eating and Drinking Places median 28.5
An estimate from reported numbers and market multiples, not a price target or investment advice. It can be far off for companies whose profits are about to change sharply.
Market risk
From the past year of daily prices.
Liquidity
Medium risk
- Average value traded per day
- $14.28M
- Value traded per 1% price move
- $4.14M
Downside
High risk
- Typical loss in a bad month
- 32.4%
- Volatility (annualized)
- 75%
- Sharpe ratio, 1 year
- -0.61
- Beta to the S&P 500 (5Y)
- 1.30
Typical bad-month loss, week by week
Margins
Share of revenue, fiscal years 2011 to 2025
Gross margin
Operating margin
Net margin
Growth rates
Compound annual growth to fiscal 2025
| Per year | 1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years | Five-year pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | -1.4% | +2.3% | +36.9% | +9.3% | |
| Gross profit | -0.9% | +3.2% | +37.9% | +9.9% | |
| Operating income | -60.9% | -31.0% | – | -2.4% |
Returns and balance sheet
10 fiscal years. Hover a measure to see how it is calculated.
| Measure | FY2016 | FY2020 | FY2025 | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | – | – | -41.1% | |
| Return on assets | – | – | -1.2% | |
| Current ratio | 0.43 | 0.44 | 0.29 | |
| Debt to equity | 0.60 | 3.89 | 16.69 | |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.02× | -5.14× | 4.12× | |
| Interest coverage | 21.5× | -6.8× | 0.6× | |
| Inventory turnover | 8.7× | 2.6× | 7.5× | |
| Capex to revenue | 18.0% | 19.0% | 18.6% | |
| Diluted shares | 43M | 44M | 35M |
Where the cash went
Fiscal 2021 to 2025, five years combined
Dave & Buster's Entertainment generated $1.69B from operations and spent $2.10B on capital expenditure, dividends and share buybacks. 75% of that went back into the business.
DuPont analysis
Return on equity split into margin, efficiency and leverage
| Fiscal year | Net margin | Asset turnover | Equity multiplier | Return on equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | -2.3% | 0.52× | 34.31× | -41.1% |
| FY2024 | 2.7% | 0.55× | 19.57× | 29.4% |
| FY2023 | 5.8% | 0.59× | 11.36× | 38.4% |
Piotroski F-Score
Nine tests of profitability, balance sheet and efficiency, fiscal 2025 against fiscal 2024
- ProfitableNet income above zero-$48.70M
- Cash generatingOperating cash flow above zero$290.80M
- Return on assets improvedROA up on the prior year1.6% → -1.2%
- Earnings backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income$290.80M vs -$48.70M
- Less leverageLong-term debt to assets fell36.8% → 36.8%
- Better liquidityCurrent ratio rose0.22 → 0.29
- No dilutionShare count did not rise40M → 35M
- Gross margin improvedGross margin up on the prior year85.26% → 85.72%
- More efficientAsset turnover rose0.57 → 0.52
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