Dave & Buster's (PLAY)
Pairs arcade games and bowling with full-service dining across two family- and adult-oriented venue brands.
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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
Target rangeAs of Sep 21, 2026
Latest analyst notes
| Date | Firm | Action | Prior | Current |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | BMO Capital | Reiterate | Rating: —Target: $22 | Target: $13 |
| Sep 15, 2026 | UBS | Reiterate | Rating: —Target: $12 | Target: $9 |
| Sep 15, 2026 | Gordon Haskett Capital Corporation | Target | Target: — | Target: $9 |
| Jun 29, 2026 | Citigroup | Initiate | Rating: — | |
| Jun 16, 2026 | UBS | Reiterate | Rating: —Target: $13 | Target: $12 |
EPSReportedEstimate
RevenueReportedEstimate
Balance sheet, Aug 4, 2026Cash & short-term investments $16.0M · Total debt $3.59B · Total assets $4.12B · Shareholders' equity $87.9M
- Revenue
- $544.1M
- Operating income
- $27.0M
- Net income
- −$12.5M
No dividends on record.
| Institutions | 121.69% | 42.38M shares | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 194 holders · as of Jun 30, 2026 | |||
| Insiders | 5.61% | 1.95M shares | |
| 26 holders · as of Sep 17, 2026 | |||
| Strategic holders | 0.11% | 37.8K shares | |
| 2 holders · as of Aug 7, 2026 | |||
| Adds to | 127.41% | ||
34.83M company shares as of Sep 22, 2026 · institutions as of Jun 30, 2026 · holders as of their latest filing
These groups come from separate filings that can overlap, so they add to 127.41%; nothing is left for Other.
Top shareholders13F · 13D/G · Form 4
| Holder | Stake | Shares | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
Hill Path Capital LPInstitution | 20.44% | 7.12M | as of Jun 30, 2026 |
BlackRock, Inc.Institution | 9.25% | 3.22M | as of Jun 30, 2026 |
Nomura Holdings IncInstitution | 6.92% | 2.41M | as of Jun 30, 2026 |
Goldman Sachs Group IncInstitution | 6.16% | 2.14M | as of Jun 30, 2026 |
Arrowstreet Capital, Limited PartnershipInstitution | 5.18% | 1.80M | as of Jun 30, 2026 |
Insider tradesForm 4
| Date | Insider | Role | Shares | Avg price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 2026 | Nathaniel Lipman | director | +24,000 | $6.78 |
| 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 |
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Compare
| Company | Price | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave & Buster's | $7.02 | +3.44% | $236.2M | — | — | 0.1 | −2.4% |
| Lucky Strike Entertainment | $5.40 | −0.64% | $742.4M | — | — | 0.6 | +0.9% |
| Brinker International | $206.62 | +3.16% | $8.59B | 18.4 | 15.5 | 1.5 | +5.1% |
| AMC Entertainment | $2.92 | +1.21% | $2.58B | — | — | 0.5 | +15.6% |
| BJ's Restaurants | $62.21 | +1.79% | $1.28B | 32.3 | 23.8 | 0.9 | +6.4% |
| Cinemark | $35.98 | −0.76% | $4.20B | 20.1 | 15.2 | 1.2 | +15.5% |
| Median | 20.1 | 15.5 | 0.9 | +6.4% |