Dave & Buster's Entertainment (NASDAQ: PLAY) recently announced preliminary fiscal fourth-quarter results that continued the mixed trends that investors have seen for over a year. Comparable-store sales fell slightly, but overall revenue improved thanks to a growing store base. The entertainment and dining specialist also noted another modest drop in profitability even as overall profits rose.
But investors were more concerned with management's plan to navigate through the temporary closure of its entire store base due to COVID-19 containment measures. In a conference call with investors, CEO Brian Jenkins and his team said they've succeeded in slashing costs to a comfortable level. Yet risks to the business remain high, since they can't predict when the mandated shutdown periods will end, let alone the pace of the following economic rebound.
Let's look at a few key points that executives sought to get across to shareholders.