PLAY
Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc.
PLAY offers stronger modeled upside, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
VZ
Verizon Communications Inc.
VZ has the edge over PLAY overall, supported by lower modeled downside and stronger fundamentals.
PLAY Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Under pressure | |
| Weak |
PLAY's revenue is currently stable, but its profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are under pressure.
VZ Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Under pressure |
VZ's profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable, but its balance sheet is under pressure.
PLAY PE Valuation
PLAY has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
VZ PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 8.3x | $32.43 | -30% |
| Forward | 9x | $46.55 | — |
| Fair | 11x | $43.63 | -6.3% |
| Current | 12x | $46.55 | — |
| Expensive | 14x | $56.75 | +22% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
VZ's PE is in its fair range at 12x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 9.0x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
PLAY Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses growing | |
| Stable | |
| Strongly weakening | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect PLAY's losses to grow, with revenue holding steady. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
VZ Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
VZ has the edge over PLAY on the outlook, with more favorable earnings and profitability expectations.
PLAY Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$2.54 | -705% |
| Q2 2026 | -$1.86 | -271% |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.40 | -196% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.04 | -98% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.42 | -85% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.09 | -55% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.46 | -49% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.09 | -24% |
PLAY has swung to a loss: it lost $2.54 per share over the past year, after a profit the year before.
VZ Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $5.19 | +32% |
| Q3 2026 | $3.93 | -16% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.85 | -10% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.11 | -2.1% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.06 | -1.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.68 | +103% |
| Q2 2025 | $4.29 | +61% |
| Q1 2025 | $4.20 | +57% |
| Q4 2024 | $4.14 | +51% |
VZ has the edge over PLAY on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
PLAY Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $544.1M | -2.4% |
| Q2 2026 | $559.2M | -1.5% |
| Q1 2026 | $529.6M | -0.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $448.2M | -1.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $557.4M | +0.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $567.7M | -3.5% |
| Q1 2025 | $534.5M | -11% |
| Q4 2024 | $453M | -3% |
PLAY's revenue grew through 2023 and has held roughly level since: $544M last quarter, down 2.4% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.6% | -5.9 points |
| Q2 2026 | 8.4% | -2.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | -2.6% | -11 points |
| Q4 2025 | -3.6% | -5 points |
| Q3 2025 | 9.5% | -5.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | -3.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 8.3% | -6.7 points |
| Q4 2024 | 1.4% | -2.6 points |
PLAY's operating margin was 3.6% last quarter, down 5.9 points from the same quarter a year ago.
VZ Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $34.3B | +1.5% |
| Q2 2026 | $34.3B | -0.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $34.4B | +2.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $36.4B | +2% |
| Q3 2025 | $33.8B | +1.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $34.5B | +5.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $33.5B | +1.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $35.7B | +1.6% |
VZ has the edge over PLAY on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 25% | +1.3 points |
| Q2 2026 | 21% | -2.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 24% | +0.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 14% | -7.1 points |
| Q3 2025 | 24% | +6.2 points |
| Q2 2025 | 24% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 24% | +1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 21% | +19 points |
VZ has the edge over PLAY on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
PLAY Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$37.9M | +$17.3M |
| Q2 2026 | $8.5M | +$67.3M |
| Q1 2026 | $34M | +$95M |
| Q4 2025 | -$20.6M | +$117.8M |
| Q3 2025 | -$55.2M | -$40.9M |
| Q2 2025 | -$58.8M | -$54.6M |
| Q1 2025 | -$61M | -$35.6M |
| Q4 2024 | -$138.4M | -$135.4M |
PLAY has burned cash in six of the last eight quarters: −$16M over the past year, against −$313M the year before.
VZ Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $11.5B | +2.2% |
| Q2 2026 | $10.4B | +16% |
| Q1 2026 | $8B | +2.6% |
| Q4 2025 | $9.1B | -13% |
| Q3 2025 | $11.3B | +14% |
| Q2 2025 | $9B | -5.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.8B | +9.9% |
| Q4 2024 | $10.4B | +20% |
VZ has the edge over PLAY on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
PLAY Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.4% | -130K shares |
| 1 year | -0.9% | -330K shares |
| 3 years | -20% | -8.6M shares |
| 5 years | -29% | -14.4M shares |
| Available history | +10% | +3.3M shares |
PLAY has 35M diluted shares, down 0.9% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | $23.9M |
| Q1 2025 | $83.9M |
| Q4 2024 | $28M |
PLAY hasn't bought back shares in the past year.
VZ Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -10M shares |
| 1 year | -1.7% | -72M shares |
| 3 years | -1.3% | -55M shares |
| 5 years | +0.4% | +17M shares |
| Available history | +0.5% | +21M shares |
VZ has the edge over PLAY on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $500M |
| Q2 2026 | $1B |
| Q1 2026 | $2.5B |
PLAY Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 4.5x | High |
| Q2 2026 | 4.2x | High |
| Q1 2026 | 4.1x | High |
| Q4 2025 | 3.9x | Elevated |
| Q3 2025 | 3.7x | Elevated |
| Q2 2025 | 3.6x | Elevated |
| Q1 2025 | 3.2x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 2.9x | Moderate |
PLAY's net debt is about 4.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 3.7 years a year ago.
VZ Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.3x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 3.4x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 2.8x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 3.0x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 3.0x | Elevated |
| Q4 2024 | 3.0x | Elevated |
VZ has the edge over PLAY on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
PLAY Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 40.2 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 29.2 | Neutral |
PLAY's weekly RSI is 40 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 29 (neutral).
VZ Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.9 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 44.6 | Neutral |
VZ's weekly RSI is 51 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 45 (neutral).
PLAY PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | PLAY | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | N/A | 16x | — |
PLAY has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
VZ PE vs Communication Services Sector
| Metric | VZ | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 12x | 16x | 28% below |
| PE % | 58 | 26 | 32 pts above |
VZ is trading at 12x earnings, a 28% discount to the Communication Services sector's median of 16x.
PLAY Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $7.29 | 7.7% above |
| 20 week MA | $8.72 | 10% below |
| 50 week MA | $12.2 | 36% below |
| 100 week MA | $17.6 | 55% below |
| 200 week MA | $29.9 | 74% below |
PLAY has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-week average, but 74% below its 200-week average.
VZ Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $45.1 | 3.1% above |
| 20 week MA | $46.3 | 0.5% above |
| 50 week MA | $46.1 | 1.1% above |
| 100 week MA | $44.2 | 5.4% above |
| 200 week MA | $41.4 | 12% above |
VZ has the edge over PLAY on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
PLAY Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $40.7 | $29.6 | -27% |
| 2021 | $29.6 | $39.5 | +33% |
| 2022 | $39.5 | $35.0 | -11% |
| 2023 | $35.0 | $53.9 | +54% |
| 2024 | $53.9 | $29.1 | -46% |
| 2025 | $29.1 | $16.3 | -44% |
| 2026 YTD | $16.3 | $7.85 | -52% |
PLAY has finished lower in four of the last six years. It's down 52% so far in 2026.
VZ Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $61.5 | $58.8 | -4.4% |
| 2021 | $58.8 | $52.7 | -10% |
| 2022 | $52.7 | $38.4 | -27% |
| 2023 | $38.4 | $37.7 | -1.8% |
| 2024 | $37.7 | $39.9 | +5.9% |
| 2025 | $39.9 | $40.5 | +1.4% |
| 2026 YTD | $40.5 | $46.6 | +15% |
VZ has the edge over PLAY on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.