Shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. (PLAY, Financial) traded higher on Wednesday after the company reported financial results for the third quarter on Thursday evening.
The company posted earnings per share of 27 cents per share on revenue of $249.98 million, beating earnings expectations by three cents and revenue estimates by $5.77 million.
During the quarter, stores in Texas and Florida were affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, remaining closed for several days. Further, the company postponed opening a location in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria.
The hurricanes had a negative impact of 50 basis points on comparable store sales growth, or $2 million on total revenue and $0.7 million on EBITDA.
CEO Steve King strongly believes opening new locations will be a primary growth driver.
"Our 2016 class of stores is trending very well, with returns close to 50%, in line with the first year returns for our recent classes of stores," he said. "While it is still early, we are also pleased with the results from our 2017 store openings, which reaffirm the concept’s broad based appeal."
Dave & Buster's plans to open 14 new locations this year, which represents 15% unit growth, and introduce a new smaller store format that will drive growth further.
Moreover, the company repurchased 2.1 million shares for $123.4 million over the first 11 months of the year. It has about $147.8 million remaining under the current buyback program.
Shares of AeroVironment Inc. (AVAV, Financial) jumped on the company's quarterly results. EPS of 29 cents beat expectations of a six-cent loss. Revenue of $73.8 million beat expectations by $10.27 million and increased 47.2% year over year.
“Our outstanding team delivered another solid quarter of financial and operational results driven by robust, global customer demand across our business and continued effective execution,” CEO Wahid Nawabi said.
The revenue increase was due to higher sales in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Efficient Energy Systems segments.
The gross margin reached $31.0 million, an increase of 78% from the same quarter a year ago, as a result of a $12.8 million increase in the product margin and an $0.8 million increase in the service margin. As a percentage, the gross margin increased to 42% from 35%.
Shares of DaVita Inc. (DVA, Financial) rose on the back of UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH, Financial) announcing it will buy the company's medical unit in a $4.9 billion deal. This is UnitedHealth's second major acquisition this year.Ă‚
Disclosure: The author holds no positions in any stocks mentioned.
