Dave & Buster's swings to a loss as sales slide
The arcade-and-dining chain posted a $12.5m quarterly loss as comparable sales fell 2.9%, though its new chief executive says the decline is easing.
Dave & Buster's swung to a $12.5m net loss in its second quarter, reported on 14 September, as comparable sales at the arcade-and-restaurant chain fell 2.9% from a year earlier. Revenue came in at $544.1m, down 2.4%, while adjusted EBITDA dropped to $98.9m from $129.8m in the same quarter of 2025.
The loss compares with net income of $11.4m a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company lost $9.5m, or $0.27 a share, against adjusted net income of $14.2m, or $0.40 a share, in last year's second quarter.
Sales declines are narrowing
Investors forgive a bad quarter faster than they forgive a vague one.
The chain's comparable sales have been negative for four straight quarters, but the trend is easing: after a 5.4% drop in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 and a 5% decline in June, comparable sales fell just 1.6% in July. Chief executive Darin Harper said trends had “improved further” over the first five weeks of the third quarter, without giving a specific figure.
Harper, who took over the top job this year, said the company remained “laser focused on returning to same-store sales and EBITDA growth” while generating free cash flow. Six-month adjusted free cash flow turned positive at $19.5m, against a $36.5m outflow over the same period last year.
Expansion continues despite the loss
Dave & Buster's opened six new domestic locations in the quarter, bringing its company-owned count to 250, and plans two more remodels before the end of 2026 for a total of eight. The company also expects at least one new international franchise location to open this year, its main route into markets outside the US.
The chain's stock has fallen roughly 48% this year, a decline that has put pressure on Harper's leadership team to show the sales trend has genuinely turned before the holiday quarter, historically the chain's busiest. The pattern echoes the pressure that pushed Whitbread out of its Beefeater chain entirely earlier this month, though Dave & Buster's is choosing to open rather than close.
Sources
- GlobeNewswire · 2026-09-14
