Dave & Buster's vs Wendy's
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The short version
- Wendy's is the larger business, with $2.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $2.1B for Dave & Buster's.
- Dave & Buster's grew revenue faster (−1.4%, against −3.1%).
- Wendy's kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (15.8% operating margin, against 4.1%).
- Wendy's turned more of its sales into free cash flow (11.2% FCF margin, against −4.8%).
- Wendy's earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (7.8%, against 4.1%).
| Latest fiscal year | PLAY · FY25 | WEN · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $242M | $1.2B |
| Revenue | $2.1B | $2.2B |
| Free cash flow | −$101M | $243M |
| Net income | −$48.7M | $165M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −1.4% | −3.1% |
| 5-year growth | 37.0% | 4.7% |
| Share count change | −13.4% | −5.6% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 85.7% | 63.6% |
| Operating margin | 4.1% | 15.8% |
| Net margin | −2.3% | 7.6% |
| FCF margin | −4.8% | 11.2% |
| Return on capital | 4.1% | 7.8% |
| Return on equity | — | — |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.6B | $3.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 4.3x | 6.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $23.9M | $330M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 9.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 4 |
Revenue
FY16
PLAY $1.0B
WEN $1.4B
FY17
PLAY $1.1B
WEN $1.2B
FY18
PLAY $1.3B
WEN $1.6B
FY19
PLAY $1.4B
WEN $1.7B
FY20
PLAY $437M
WEN $1.7B
FY21
PLAY $1.3B
WEN $1.9B
FY22
PLAY $2.0B
WEN $2.1B
FY23
PLAY $2.2B
WEN $2.2B
FY24
PLAY $2.1B
WEN $2.2B
FY25
PLAY $2.1B
WEN $2.2B
PLAY
WEN
Operating margin
FY16
PLAY 15.0%
WEN 21.9%
FY17
PLAY 14.5%
WEN 17.6%
FY18
PLAY 12.7%
WEN 15.7%
FY19
PLAY 10.9%
WEN 15.4%
FY20
PLAY −57.9%
WEN 15.5%
FY21
PLAY 14.4%
WEN 19.3%
FY22
PLAY 13.4%
WEN 16.9%
FY23
PLAY 13.9%
WEN 17.5%
FY24
PLAY 10.3%
WEN 16.5%
FY25
PLAY 4.1%
WEN 15.8%
PLAY
WEN
Free cash flow
FY16
PLAY $50.8M
WEN $43.8M
FY17
PLAY $44.8M
WEN $157M
FY18
PLAY $121M
WEN $154M
FY19
PLAY $60.9M
WEN $214M
FY20
PLAY −$132M
WEN $215M
FY21
PLAY $191M
WEN $268M
FY22
PLAY $210M
WEN $174M
FY23
PLAY $34.0M
WEN $260M
FY24
PLAY −$218M
WEN $261M
FY25
PLAY −$101M
WEN $243M
PLAY
WEN
Return on capital
FY16
PLAY 14.2%
WEN 7.1%
FY17
PLAY 17.6%
WEN 7.2%
FY18
PLAY 16.7%
WEN 7.0%
FY19
PLAY 15.0%
WEN 7.6%
FY20
PLAY −25.8%
WEN 6.9%
FY21
PLAY 22.1%
WEN 9.9%
FY22
PLAY 18.8%
WEN 8.2%
FY23
PLAY 15.6%
WEN 8.9%
FY24
PLAY 11.4%
WEN 8.4%
FY25
PLAY 4.1%
WEN 7.8%
PLAY
WEN
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.