Dave & Buster’s shares soar 14% as Jurassic World VR game launches
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. shares soared nearly 14% in Tuesday trading after the company announced a first-quarter earnings beat and discussed the rollout of new virtual reality games. The company is currently launching the Jurassic World VR Expedition, according to Chief Executive Stephen King, with more coming. “Our plan, as we mentioned before, is to build a library of proprietary VR content that will enable us to capitalize on this opportunity for many years,” he said, according to a FactSet transcript of the after-hours earnings call. Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom hits theaters on June 21. SunTrust Robinson Humphrey raised its price target to $62 from $54 on increased confidence in same-store sales growth and “given our view that the June 14 VR launch will be a meaningful sales catalyst, offsetting the expected negative impact from competitive intrusion and cannibalization,” analysts wrote in a note. SunTrust rates Dave & Buster’s shares buy. The arcade-themed restaurant chain also announced that CEO King will retire from the CEO post effective August 5, the end of the second quarter. Dave & Buster’s shares have rallied more than 32% for the past month, but are down 21.6% for the last year. The S&P 500 index has gained 14.6% for the past 12 months.