Cracker Barrel vs Dave & Buster's
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The short version
- Cracker Barrel is the larger business, with $3.3B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $2.1B for Dave & Buster's, about 1.6 times as much.
- Dave & Buster's grew revenue faster (−1.4%, against −4.7%).
- Dave & Buster's kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (4.1% operating margin, against −0.4%).
- Cracker Barrel turned more of its sales into free cash flow (2.7% FCF margin, against −4.8%).
| Latest fiscal year | CBRL · FY26 | PLAY · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $1.5B | $242M |
| Revenue | $3.3B | $2.1B |
| Free cash flow | $88.4M | −$101M |
| Net income | $31.7M | −$48.7M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −4.7% | −1.4% |
| 5-year growth | 3.3% | 37.0% |
| Share count change | 0.4% | −13.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 69.1% | 85.7% |
| Operating margin | −0.4% | 4.1% |
| Net margin | 1.0% | −2.3% |
| FCF margin | 2.7% | −4.8% |
| Return on capital | — | 4.1% |
| Return on equity | 6.7% | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | — | $1.6B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | 4.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $23.1M | $23.9M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | — |
| Piotroski F-score | — | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
CBRL $2.9B
PLAY $1.1B
FY18
CBRL $3.0B
PLAY $1.3B
FY19
CBRL $3.1B
PLAY $1.4B
FY20
CBRL $2.5B
PLAY $437M
FY21
CBRL $2.8B
PLAY $1.3B
FY22
CBRL $3.3B
PLAY $2.0B
FY23
CBRL $3.4B
PLAY $2.2B
FY24
CBRL $3.5B
PLAY $2.1B
FY25
CBRL $3.5B
PLAY $2.1B
FY26
CBRL $3.3B
PLAY —
CBRL
PLAY
Operating margin
FY17
CBRL 10.7%
PLAY 14.5%
FY18
CBRL 9.7%
PLAY 12.7%
FY19
CBRL 9.2%
PLAY 10.9%
FY20
CBRL 4.1%
PLAY −57.9%
FY21
CBRL 13.0%
PLAY 14.4%
FY22
CBRL 4.7%
PLAY 13.4%
FY23
CBRL 3.5%
PLAY 13.9%
FY24
CBRL 1.3%
PLAY 10.3%
FY25
CBRL 1.6%
PLAY 4.1%
FY26
CBRL −0.4%
PLAY —
CBRL
PLAY
Free cash flow
FY17
CBRL $210M
PLAY $44.8M
FY18
CBRL $178M
PLAY $121M
FY19
CBRL $225M
PLAY $60.9M
FY20
CBRL −$136M
PLAY −$132M
FY21
CBRL $230M
PLAY $191M
FY22
CBRL $107M
PLAY $210M
FY23
CBRL $123M
PLAY $34.0M
FY24
CBRL $40.7M
PLAY −$218M
FY25
CBRL $59.8M
PLAY −$101M
FY26
CBRL $88.4M
PLAY —
CBRL
PLAY
Return on capital
FY17
CBRL 27.1%
PLAY 17.6%
FY18
CBRL 31.6%
PLAY 16.7%
FY19
CBRL 25.9%
PLAY 15.0%
FY20
CBRL 8.6%
PLAY −25.8%
FY21
CBRL 33.8%
PLAY 22.1%
FY22
CBRL 16.2%
PLAY 18.8%
FY23
CBRL 13.1%
PLAY 15.6%
FY24
CBRL 5.1%
PLAY 11.4%
FY25
CBRL 6.1%
PLAY 4.1%
FY26
CBRL —
PLAY —
CBRL
PLAY
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.