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Dave and Buster Entertainment (NASDAQ: PLAY) fell sharply in early trading Thursday after missing consensus estimates with its first-quarter earnings report.
Revenue fell 1.5% year over year to $588.1 million, and comparable store sales declined 5.6% to miss consensus expectations for a 3.8% decline. Balanced EBITDA decreased 12.6% from the previous year to $159.1 million. Non-GAAP EPS was $1.12, compared to consensus of $1.70 and $1.52 a year ago. During the quarter, the Dallas-based company realized more than $10 million in incremental labor and marketing costs associated with the launch of new initiatives and certain marketing tests. These costs are not expected to be repeated in the future.
During the conference call (transcript), D&B management said macro trends were challenging, but the company was encouraged by the fact that trends improved during the quarter through a combination of price and traffic.
Looking ahead, the company said it remains focused on achieving the adjusted EBITDA target of $1 billion in the coming years.
Dave & Buster's Entertainment (PLAY) Stock Dropped 10.0% in premarket trading on Thursday. The short interest on PLAY stands at 18.2% of the total float.
