A new earnings season is just preparing to launch, but two prior-quarter stragglers popped on Wednesday after their late Tuesday reports. Dave & Buster's reversed higher after its Q4 report late Tuesday. Cal-Maine Foods surged on its results.
Arcade and restaurant chain Dave & Buster's reported a 10% fourth-quarter earnings increase to 88 cents per share, missing FactSet forecasts of $1.10 per share. Total revenue rose 6.3% to $599.1 million, coming in below views of $602.6 million.
Dave & Buster's adjusted earnings fell nearly 29% to $1.03 per share, compared with FactSet estimates of $1.12 per share.
Fourth-quarter comparable sales declined 7% year-over-year due to "abnormally adverse weather conditions."
The company repurchased $300 million shares during the 2023 fiscal year. Dave & Buster's board hiked its current buyback program by $100 million, bringing the total to $200 million.
Dave & Buster's Stock
PLAY stock spiked 10.3% Wednesday. Shares retreated 3.9% on Tuesday.
The move put Dave & Buster's stock well beyond a buy range on a rebound from support at its 10-week moving average.
PLAY stock has rallied 26.8% following a flat base breakout in early February.
Cal-Maine Foods Slows Declines
Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer and distributor in the U.S., late Tuesday reported its earnings declines slowed for the second quarter in a row. Third-quarter earnings fell about 55% to $3 per share, but still came out ahead of FactSet views of $2.45 per share. Revenue dropped 30% to $703 million, beating estimates of $692 million.
The revenue decline was largely due to a significant decrease in egg prices compared to last year. However, Cal-Maine noted that market prices are moving higher due to normal seasonal fluctuations and some impact from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) outbreaks.
About 15.7 million commercial egg-laying hens and pullets died from HPAI outbreaks between November and January, according to figures from the USDA division of Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Cal-Maine said.
Cal-Maine reported it lost about 2.9 million egg-laying hens from HPAI outbreaks at its facilities in Kansas and Parmer County, Texas during the third quarter. The company temporarily paused production in Parmer County to comply with USDA protocols. However, there is no risk to eggs on the market and no eggs have been recalled.
The Parmer County facility outbreak impacted 1.6 million egg-laying hens and 337,000 pullets, representing about 3.6% of Cal-Maine's total flock as of March 2.
CALM stock pared gains to 3.6% Wednesday after surging 6.4% in early trade. Cal-Maine broke out above a 57.95 buy point on Jan. 1. A volatile session on Tuesday technically triggered the automatic sell rule.
CALM stock is up 6.4% so far this year.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison
