Dave & Buster’s Reports Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results
DALLAS, Dec. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAY) (“Dave & Buster's” or “the Company”), an owner, operator, and franchisor of entertainment and dining venues, today announced financial results for its third quarter of fiscal 2025 ended November 4, 2025.
Third Quarter 2025 Financial Summary
Other Highlights
“I am pleased to report we are making substantive progress on our back-to-basics plan,” said Tarun Lal, Chief Executive Officer. “We’ve been hard at work relaunching our marketing engine, reinvigorating our food & beverage offering, improving our operations, refreshing our games platform, and revamping our store remodel program.
These enhanced efforts bore fruit over the course of the third quarter as we saw sequential improvement in same-store sales each month, with the final month of the quarter down only roughly one percent. We are also quite pleased with our back-to-basics new menu launch which helped contribute to positive same-store sales for food and beverage during the quarter.
We are laser focused on executing our back-to-basics plan, strengthening our culture, elevating the guest experience and fully realizing the significant potential of our unique and iconic brand. After being here for five months and fully immersing myself in the business, I am even more confident in our ability to dramatically improve operating results and drive meaningful value creation for our guests and our shareholders.”
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1 Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted net loss are non-GAAP financial measures. Please see the discussion under Non-GAAP Measures and the reconciliations at the end of this release for additional information concerning these and other non-GAAP financial measures.
Cash Flow and Liquidity
The Company generated $58.0 million in operating cash during the third quarter, ending the quarter with $441.9 million of available liquidity. 2
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q Available
The Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which will be available at www.sec.gov and on the Company’s investor relations website, contains a thorough review of its financial results for the third quarter ended November 4, 2025.
Investor Conference Call and Webcast
Management will host a conference call to discuss these results on Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time). Both the live and archived webcasts of the conference call will be available at ir.daveandbusters.com. Participants in the U.S. can access the conference call by dialing toll-free (877) 883-0383, and international participants can access by dialing (412) 902-6506. The participant entry number is 7238866. A replay will be available after the call for one year beginning at 6:00 p.m. Central Time (7:00 p.m. Eastern Time) and can be accessed by dialing toll-free (855) 669-9658 or by the international toll number (412) 317-0088. The replay access code is 1952061.
About Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc.
Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Coppell, Texas, Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. is the owner and operator of 241 stores in North America that offer premier entertainment and dining experiences to guests through two distinct brands: Dave & Buster’s and Main Event. The Company has 177 Dave & Buster’s branded stores in 43 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada and offers guests the opportunity to “Eat Drink Play and Watch” all in one location. Each store offers a full menu of entrées and appetizers, a complete selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and an extensive assortment of entertainment attractions centered around playing games and watching live sports and other televised events. The Company also operates 64 Main Event branded stores in 22 states across the country, and offers state-of-the-art bowling, laser tag, hundreds of arcade games and virtual reality, making it the perfect place for families to connect and make memories. Internationally, the Company is in early-stage growth as a franchisor of its brands with three Dave & Buster’s franchise stores currently open. For more information about each brand, visit daveandbusters.com and mainevent.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The Company cautions that this release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including: our ability to continue as a going concern; our ability to obtain waivers, and thereafter continue to satisfy covenant requirements under our revolving credit facility; our ability to access other funding sources; our overall level of indebtedness; general business and economic conditions; the impact of competition; the seasonality of the Company's business; adverse weather conditions; future commodity prices; guest and employee complaints and litigation; fuel and utility costs; labor costs and availability; changes in consumer and corporate spending; changes in demographic trends; changes in governmental regulations; unfavorable publicity; our ability to open new stores; and acts of God. Accordingly, actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements, and the Company therefore cautions you against relying on such forward-looking statements. The Company intends these forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of this release and does not undertake to update or revise them as more appropriate information becomes available, except as required by law.
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2 Available liquidity is defined as cash and cash equivalents plus availability under the Company’s $650.0 million revolving credit facility.
Non-GAAP Measures
To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”), the Company uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: Adjusted EBITDA, Credit Adjusted EBITDA (calculated in accordance with the Company’s Credit Facility), Net Total Leverage Ratio (calculated in accordance with the Company’s Credit Facility), Store operating income before depreciation and amortization, Adjusted net income (loss), and Adjusted net income (loss) per share - Diluted, reconciliations of which can be found on the following pages (collectively the “non-GAAP financial measures”). The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. The Company believes that they provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of our operating performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making. The non-GAAP measures used by the Company in this press release may be different from the measures used by other companies or calculated differently than similar measures used by other companies.
For Investor Relations Inquiries:
Cory Hatton, Head of Entertainment Finance, Investor Relations & Treasurer
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc.
Cory.Hatton@daveandbusters.com
DAVE & BUSTER'S ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
Non-GAAP Measures
(unaudited, in millions)
Adjusted EBITDA:
Adjusted EBITDA represents net income (loss), plus interest expense, net, loss on debt refinancing, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization expense, (gain) loss on property and equipment transactions, impairment of long-lived assets, share-based compensation, currency transaction (gains) losses and other costs, as calculated below. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure commonly used in our industry and should not be construed as an alternative to net income as an indicator of operating performance or as an alternative to cash flow provided by operating activities as a measure of liquidity (as determined in accordance with GAAP). Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA is presented because we believe that it provides useful information to investors and analysts regarding our operating performance. By reporting Adjusted EBITDA, we provide a basis for comparison of our business operations between current, past and future periods by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. A reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA is provided below for the periods presented:
Store Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization:
Store Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization, a non-GAAP measure, represents operating income, plus depreciation and amortization expense, general and administrative expenses, pre-opening costs and other gains and charges. We believe that Store Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization is another useful measure in evaluating our operating performance because it removes the impact of general and administrative expenses, which are not incurred at the store level, and the costs of opening new stores, which are non-recurring at the store level, and thereby enables the comparability of the operating performance of our stores for the periods presented. We also believe that Store Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization is a useful measure in evaluating our operating performance within the entertainment and dining industry because it permits the evaluation of store-level productivity, efficiency, and performance, and we use Store Operating Income Before Depreciation and Amortization as a means of evaluating store financial performance compared with our competitors. However, because this measure excludes significant items such as general and administrative expenses, pre-opening costs and other gains and charges, as well as our interest expense, net, loss on debt extinguishment/refinance and depreciation and amortization expense, which are important in evaluating our consolidated financial performance from period to period, the value of this measure is limited as a measure of our consolidated financial performance.
Credit Adjusted EBITDA and Net Total Leverage Ratio:
Credit Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, represents net income (loss) plus certain items as defined at Adjusted EBITDA above, as well as certain other adjustments as defined in our Credit Agreement. These other adjustments include (i) increases in entertainment revenue deferrals, (ii) the cost of new projects, including store pre-opening costs, (iii) business optimization expenses and other restructuring costs, and (iv) other costs and adjustments as permitted by the Credit Agreement. We believe the presentation of Credit Adjusted EBITDA is appropriate as it provides additional information to investors about the calculation of, and compliance with, certain financial covenants in the Credit Agreement. The following table sets forth a reconciliation of Net income to Credit Adjusted EBITDA for the periods shown:
The following table provides a calculation of Net Total Leverage Ratio, as defined in the Credit Agreement, for the period shown:
Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) Per Share - Diluted:
Adjusted net income, a non-GAAP measure, represents net income (loss) before special items, as calculated below, and Adjusted net income (loss) per share - diluted, a non-GAAP measure, represents Adjusted net income (loss) on a fully diluted, per share basis. We believe excluding these special items from net income (loss) provides investors with a clearer perspective of our ongoing operating performance and a more relevant comparison to prior period results. The following table presents a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted net income (loss) and presents Adjusted net income (loss) per diluted share, for the periods shown: