Why Dave & Buster's Stock Rallied 17% This Week
Shares of Dave & Buster's (NASDAQ: PLAY), which owns mixed restaurant and entertainment venues, rose 17% at its highs this week, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. The big story here was the company's March 28 earnings release, but it requires a little digging to understand why there was so much enthusiasm on the part of investors. That said, there are really three important time periods to look at in the earnings update.
First, sales in the fourth quarter of 2021 jumped a huge 193.7% over the same quarter in 2020. That's a great number, but one that really just highlights the massive impact of the pandemic. Earnings followed a similar path, with fourth-quarter 2021 earnings per share at $0.52, up from a loss of $1.19 in the final stanza of 2020. The second period to look at is the fourth quarter of 2021 versus the fourth quarter of 2019, before the pandemic. The company's top line was actually lower by 1.2%, with earnings off notably from the $0.80 per share it brought in during the fourth quarter of 2019. That provides a less favorable view, with results bouncing back notably from the worst of the pandemic hit but not quite all the way back to pre-pandemic levels.
Image source: Getty Images.
Source Fool.com