Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (PLAY) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

(spoken by AI) You're listening to Dave and Buster's live.

（人工智慧播報）您正在收聽的是Dave and Buster's的現場演出。

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Dave & Buster's Q3 202 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please also note today's event is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Cory Hatton, Head of Entertainment Finance, Investor Relations and Treasurer.

女士們、先生們，大家好，歡迎參加 Dave & Buster's 202 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）也請注意，今天的活動正在錄影。此時，我想把發言權交給娛樂金融、投資者關係和財務主管科里·哈頓。

Thank you, Jamie, and welcome to everyone online. Joining me in the room on today's call are Tarun Lal, our Chief Executive Officer; and Darin Harper, our Chief Financial Officer. After our prepared remarks, we will be happy to take your questions. This call is being recorded on behalf of Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. and is copyrighted.

謝謝你，傑米，也歡迎各位線上觀眾。今天和我一起參加電話會議的有我們的執行長塔倫·拉爾和我們的財務長達林·哈珀。在我們發言完畢後，我們將樂意回答各位的問題。本次通話由 Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. 代表進行錄音，並受版權保護。

Before we begin the discussion on our company's third quarter 2025 results, I'd like to call your attention to the fact that in our prepared remarks and responses to questions, certain items may be discussed, which are not entirely based on historical fact. Any of these items should be considered forward-looking statements relating to future events within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

在我們開始討論公司 2025 年第三季業績之前，我想提請各位注意，在我們準備好的發言和對問題的回答中，可能會討論一些並非完全基於歷史事實的內容。根據 1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》的定義，這些內容應被視為與未來事件相關的前瞻性聲明。

All such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. Information on these risks and uncertainties have been published in our filings with the SEC, which are available on our website. In addition, our remarks today will include references to financial measures that are not defined under generally accepted accounting principles. Investors should review the reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP measure contained in our earnings release this afternoon.

所有此類前瞻性陳述均存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與預期結果不同。有關這些風險和不確定性的資訊已在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中公佈，這些文件可在我們的網站上查閱。此外，我們今天的演講也將提及一些不符合公認會計原則的財務指標。投資人應查看我們今天下午發布的獲利報告中所載的這些非GAAP指標與對應GAAP指標的調節表。

And with that, let me turn the call over to Tarun.

那麼，現在讓我把電話交給塔倫。

Thank you, Cory. Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining our call today. I'm pleased to report we are making substantive progress on our back-to-basics plan. We've been hard at working our marketing engine, strengthening our food and beverage offering, improving our operations, refreshing our games offering and revamping our remodels. This work bore fruits over the course of the third quarter as we saw sequential improvement in same-store sales each month with the final month of the quarter down only roughly 1%.

謝謝你，科里。各位晚上好，感謝各位今天參加我們的電話會議。我很高興地報告，我們的回歸基礎計劃正在取得實質進展。我們一直在努力完善行銷體系，加強餐飲服務，改善運營，更新遊戲項目，並進行改造。這項工作在第三季取得了成果，我們看到同店銷售額逐月遞增，該季度最後一個月僅下降了約 1%。

We are also quite pleased with our back-to-basics new menu launch, which helped contribute to positive same-store sales for food and beverage during the quarter. We are laser-focused on executing our back-to-basics plan, strengthening our culture, elevating the guest experience and fully realizing the significant potential of our unique and iconic brand. After being here for about five months and fully immersing myself in the business, I am even more confident in our ability to dramatically improve operating results and drive meaningful value creation for our guests and our shareholders.

我們對回歸本源的新菜單的推出也感到非常滿意，這有助於本季食品和飲料的同店銷售額實現正成長。我們正全力以赴執行回歸本源計劃，加強企業文化，提升賓客體驗，充分發揮我們獨特而標誌性品牌的巨大潛力。在這裡工作了大約五個月，並全心投入業務之後，我對我們大幅改善經營業績、為顧客和股東創造有意義的價值的能力更有信心了。

I'll now provide an update on each of the pillars of back-to-basics, which, as I mentioned, is already driving measurable improvements across the business. First, we have reconstructed our marketing strategy with a clearer, more disciplined approach to planning and execution. We have created a simplified marketing and promo calendar, which effectively communicates the attractiveness of our offerings such as the Eat & Play Combo, which highlights our offerings across both food and beverage and games.

接下來，我將對回歸基礎的各個支柱進行最新進展介紹。正如我之前提到的，這些支柱已經推動了整個業務的顯著改進。首先，我們重新建構了行銷策略，採用了更清晰、更嚴謹的規劃和執行方法。我們制定了簡化的行銷和促銷日曆，有效地傳達了我們產品的吸引力，例如“吃喝玩樂套餐”，該套餐突出了我們在食品飲料和遊戲方面的產品。

We continue to improve and optimize, leveraging data, our media mix and the flighting of our investment between television and digital. Organizational enhancements are empowering our marketing to function as a growth engine, driving both guest acquisition and sales performance. We have built out a comprehensive revenue management team, which, among other things, test games, promotions, creative, marketing messages and other strategic components well ahead of the major launches. This process ensures that we make data-driven decisions, which has led to smoother execution and strong results, which we expect to continue in the remainder of 2025 and beyond.

我們不斷改進和優化，充分利用數據、媒體組合以及在電視和數位媒體之間的投資轉移。組織架構的最佳化使我們的行銷能夠發揮成長引擎的作用，從而推動客戶獲取和銷售業績的提升。我們組建了一支全面的收益管理團隊，該團隊負責在重大發布之前對遊戲、促銷活動、創意、行銷訊息和其他策略組成部分進行測試。這個過程確保我們做出數據驅動的決策，從而實現了更順暢的執行和良好的結果，我們預計這種情況將在 2025 年剩餘時間及以後繼續保持。

Second, we have made significant progress implementing our new food and beverage offerings. As we have discussed previously, the percentage of people who came into our stores to play games and then also eat food was significantly lower than in the past, and it has been our goal to return that number to historical levels. Earlier this year, we made certain changes to the presentation of our existing menu, while in parallel testing a new menu, which included significantly more items and brought back numerous fan favorites.

其次，我們在推行新的食品和飲料產品方面取得了顯著進展。正如我們之前討論過的，來我們店裡玩遊戲然後吃東西的顧客比例比以前低了很多，我們的目標就是讓這個數字恢復到歷史水平。今年早些時候，我們對現有菜單的呈現方式進行了一些更改，同時測試了一份新菜單，其中包含更多菜餚，並重新推出了許多深受粉絲喜愛的菜餚。

As previously discussed, the new menu test performed extremely well, and we launched the new menu in October. It has delivered strong results and accelerated momentum in our food and beverage performance. This new menu as well as a number of other food initiatives is driving higher average checks through an improved product mix and stronger volumes in its first month, creating additional momentum in Q4. We are pleased that during the quarter, traffic in our dining rooms was up meaningfully up year over year with October same-store food sales being the best month of the year, a trend that has only further improved in November.

正如之前討論過的，新菜單測試效果非常好，我們在 10 月推出了新菜單。它為我們的食品飲料業務帶來了強勁的業績，並加速了業務發展勢頭。這項新菜單以及其他一些食品舉措，透過改進產品組合和提高銷量，在第一個月就推動了平均客單價的上漲，為第四季度創造了更多成長動力。我們很高興看到，本季餐廳客流量較去年同期顯著成長，10 月份同店食品銷售額創下全年新高，而 11 月份這一趨勢進一步改善。

As we discussed, earlier this year, we brought back the Eat & Play Combo, and we continue to see positive momentum from this promotion, which we believe provides a highly compelling value to our guests. We have continued to improve this offering throughout the year and guest attached to EPC has improved significantly to a double-digit percentage of our guests since the beginning of the year, demonstrating the attractiveness of the offering. We are continuing to optimize dayparts and experiences such as refining our lunch offerings and enhancing mobile and kiosk ordering to ensure our guests enjoy both convenience and craveable quality on every visit.

正如我們之前討論過的，今年早些時候，我們重新推出了“吃喝玩樂套餐”，並且我們繼續看到這項促銷活動取得了積極的進展，我們相信它為我們的顧客提供了極具吸引力的價值。今年以來，我們不斷改進這項服務，自年初以來，使用 EPC 的客人數量已顯著增加到我們客人總數的兩位數百分比，這表明該服務的吸引力。我們不斷優化營業時段和顧客體驗，例如改進午餐供應、提升手機和自助點餐服務，以確保顧客每次光臨都能享受到便捷和令人垂涎的品質。

Third, we are reinvigorating our field operations with comprehensive training programs designed to empower our teams to deliver exceptional guest experiences. By fostering a collaborative culture that receives strong support from our shared service center, we are reducing turnover, enhancing engagement, and creating an environment where our people and our brand can truly thrive. We have high confidence that these initiatives are working as our guests are staying longer in our stores and spending more while continuing to provide high guest satisfaction.

第三，我們正在透過全面的培訓計劃來重振我們的現場運營，旨在使我們的團隊能夠為客人提供卓越的體驗。透過創造一個得到共享服務中心大力支持的協作文化，我們正在降低員工流動率，提高員工敬業度，並創造一個讓我們的員工和品牌真正蓬勃發展的環境。我們非常有信心這些措施正在奏效，因為我們的顧客在店內停留時間更長，消費更多，同時我們仍然保持著很高的顧客滿意度。

Fourth, regarding our games offering, we are focused on tightly aligning our marketing campaigns with high-impact IP-driven game launches. While we aren't ready to make an announcement, we are highly confident that our upcoming 2026 lineup has highly relevant cultural IPs, which will maximize awareness, engagement, and traffic.

第四，關於我們的遊戲產品，我們專注於將行銷活動與具有高影響力 IP 驅動的遊戲發布緊密結合。雖然我們尚未準備好發佈公告，但我們非常有信心，我們即將推出的 2026 年產品陣容擁有高度相關的文化 IP，這將最大限度地提高知名度、參與度和流量。

As previously discussed, we have renewed our focus on regularly introducing exciting new games, which we were able to do in 2025, but which we will be able to do even more effectively in 2026. We have significantly improved our process and plan to introduce 10 new games throughout the year. We are confident based on tests that are in the market that the games are highly marketable and will resonate well with our customers. We expect these games to drive significant repeat visitation based on data from robust customer tests.

正如之前討論過的，我們重新專注於定期推出激動人心的新遊戲，我們在 2025 年做到了這一點，但在 2026 年我們將能夠更有效地做到這一點。我們大幅改善了流程，並計劃在年內推出 10 款新遊戲。根據市場上的測試結果，我們有信心這些遊戲具有很高的市場競爭力，並且會受到我們客戶的歡迎。根據可靠的客戶測試數據，我們預期這些遊戲將顯著提升用戶的重複造訪率。

Additionally, we expect the rollout of Human Crane to all remaining locations, along with its debut in main event to deliver an immediate and proven lift in sales in the coming months. Beyond our in-house innovations, we are exploring powerful partnerships at the intersection of media, sports, technology, embracing the growing potential of location-based entertainment to create experiences that are truly unmatched in our category.

此外，我們預計「人體起重機」專案推廣到所有剩餘場地，並在主賽事中首次亮相，將在未來幾個月內立即帶來可觀的銷售成長。除了我們內部的創新之外，我們還在探索媒體、體育、科技交叉領域的強大合作夥伴關係，擁抱基於位置的娛樂日益增長的潛力，以創造真正無與倫比的同類體驗。

Finally, we have commenced our revamped remodel program. As mentioned last quarter, we've been focused on optimizing the remodel prototype to modernize and refresh the look and feel of the units at an appropriate cost. We have high confidence we have found the right layout to increase traffic and overall productively and will generate highly attractive ROIs at reasonable cost. We have three new remodels under construction and plan to open six new remodels in the next five months.

最後，我們啟動了改進後的改造計畫。正如上個季度所提到的，我們一直致力於優化改造原型，以適當的成本實現單元的現代化和煥然一新的外觀和感覺。我們非常有信心，我們已經找到了合適的佈局，可以增加客流量，提高整體生產力，並以合理的成本產生極具吸引力的投資回報率。我們有三家新店正在裝修，並計劃在未來五個月內開設六家新店。

To further accelerate our momentum and our execution of all pillars of the back-to-basics strategy, we are elevating our culture and people capabilities across the organization to strengthen our foundation for growth and success. With the recent addition of key new executives to our leadership team, including our Chief Strategy Officer, Aldo; our Chief Growth and Partnership Officer, Putnam Shin; and our Chief People Officer, Devesh Sinha, we have significantly enhanced the depth and expertise of our leadership team. Aldo, Putnam and Devesh are highly quality -- high-quality executives who have tremendous capability and experience, and they're joining our teams highlight the power of D&B as an employer of choice. Aldo joins us from McKinsey, Putnam has experience with both Walt Disney and Merlin, and Devesh comes from Yum! Restaurants.

為了進一步加速我們回歸基礎策略各支柱的發展動能和執​​行力度，我們正在提升整個組織的文化和人員能力，以加強我們成長和成功的基礎。隨著近期我們領導團隊中新增多位重要主管，包括首席策略長 Aldo、首席成長與合作長 Putnam Shin 和首席人力資源長 Devesh Sinha，我們領導團隊的深度和專業知識得到了顯著提升。Aldo、Putnam 和 Devesh 都是非常優秀的管理人才——他們擁有卓越的能力和豐富的經驗，他們的加入凸顯了鄧白氏作為首選雇主的實力。Aldo來自麥肯錫，Putnam曾在華特迪士尼和默林娛樂工作過，Devesh來自百勝餐飲集團！餐廳。

As we build our support center capabilities, we are equally committed to our field. From launching industry-leading GM incentives, investing in training programs to simplifying tasks and initiatives for our team members, we are sending a message to the field that our success is closely tied to our execution and to our guest experience. By fostering a culture that is fun, collaborative and supported by the shared service center, we're reducing turnover, enhancing engagement and creating an environment where our people and our brand can truly thrive.

在提升支援中心能力的同時，我們也同樣致力於發展我們的業務領域。從推出業界領先的總經理激勵措施，到投資培訓計劃，再到簡化團隊成員的任務和舉措，我們正在向第一線員工傳遞一個訊息：我們的成功與我們的執行力和顧客體驗息息相關。透過創造一個充滿樂趣、協作互助且有共享服務中心支持的文化，我們正在降低員工流動率，提高員工敬業度，並創造一個讓我們的員工和品牌真正蓬勃發展的環境。

With that, I would like to turn the call over to Darin to walk through the financial results of our third quarter. Darin?

接下來，我想把電話交給達林，讓他來介紹我們第三季的財務表現。達林？

Thank you, Tarun, and good evening, everyone. Our financial foundation remains strong, supported by a business model that consistently generates high returns, healthy unit level performance, disciplined cost management and meaningful free cash flow. Both leadership and the Board remain sharply focused on executing our priorities to drive same-store sales growth and generate significant cash flow. We have clear operational levers at our disposal, and we are confident in our ability to further enhance performance and deliver long-term shareholder value.

謝謝你，塔倫，大家晚上好。我們的財務基礎依然穩固，這得益於我們持續產生高回報、健康的單位績效、嚴格的成本管理和可觀的自由現金流的商業模式。公司領導階層和董事會仍然高度重視執行各項優先事項，以推動同店銷售成長並產生可觀的現金流。我們擁有明確的營運槓桿，我們有信心進一步提高業績，為股東創造長期價值。

Turning to a more detailed review of our financials. In our third quarter of fiscal 2025, comparable store sales decreased 4% versus the prior year period. We are encouraged by the improving monthly trend throughout the third quarter with relative strength in the final month of October, down approximately 1% versus the prior year period. We are also encouraged by a continuation of these improved trends throughout November.

接下來，我們將對財務狀況進行更詳細的審查。2025財年第三季度，同店銷售額較上年同期下降4%。第三季整體月度趨勢持續改善，10 月表現相對強勁，但與去年同期相比下降了約 1%，這令我們感到鼓舞。我們也欣喜地看到，這些改善趨勢在整個 11 月得以延續。

During the third quarter, we generated revenue of $448 million, a net loss of $42 million or $1.22 per diluted share, adjusted net loss of $39 million or $1.14 per diluted share, and adjusted EBITDA of $59 million, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 13%. As a reminder, reconciliations of all non-GAAP financial measures can be found in today's press release.

第三季度，我們實現營收 4.48 億美元，淨虧損 4,200 萬美元，即每股攤薄虧損 1.22 美元；調整後淨虧損 3,900 萬美元，即每股攤薄虧損 1.14 美元；調整後 EBITDA 為 5,900 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤 13%。提醒各位，所有非GAAP財務指標的調節表可在今天的新聞稿中找到。

We generated $58 million in operating cash flow during the third quarter, ending the quarter with $14 million in cash and $442 million in total liquidity, combined with the availability under our $650 million revolving credit facility, net of $14 million in outstanding letters of credit. On the expense side, we see meaningful opportunities to further optimize our cost structure. In recent weeks, we have focused on enhancing our internal cost management processes, and we have also launched a comprehensive initiative to identify material efficiencies across the business. We are confident these efforts will support continued margin expansion, and we look forward to sharing updates on our progress in future quarters.

第三季度，我們產生了 5,800 萬美元的營運現金流，季度末現金餘額為 1,400 萬美元，總流動資金為 4.42 億美元，加上我們 6.5 億美元的循環信貸額度（扣除 1,400 萬美元的未償信用證）的可用資金。在支出方面，我們看到了進一步優化成本結構的重要機會。最近幾週，我們專注於加強內部成本管理流程，並啟動了一項全面的計劃，旨在提高整個業務的效率。我們相信這些努力將有助於利潤率的持續成長，我們期待在未來幾季與大家分享我們的進展。

Year-to-date, in 2025, we have invested a total of $268 million in capital additions on a gross basis or approximately $155 million on a net basis when factoring in payments from landlords. Details of this can be found in the table in our 10-Q filing.

截至 2025 年，我們已累計投資 2.68 億美元用於資本增加，若計入房東的付款，則淨投資額約為 1.55 億美元。詳情請參閱我們 10-Q 文件中的表格。

We are making increasing progress converting our strong operating cash flow to free cash flow through more strict management on capital spending by eliminating inefficient spend. As a reminder, we are committed to demonstrating our ability to generate free cash flow while continuing to invest in double-digit new store growth, new games, other high ROI initiatives and a more diligent remodel program.

我們正透過更嚴格地管理資本支出，消除低效支出，不斷將強勁的營運現金流轉化為自由現金流，並取得了越來越大的進展。再次提醒大家，我們致力於展現我們創造自由現金流的能力，同時繼續投資於兩位數的新店增長、新遊戲、其他高投資回報率項目以及更認真的改造計劃。

Our new store development continues to deliver strong returns, and we have a solid pipeline of upcoming store openings. In the third quarter, we opened one domestic D&B store in Spokane, Washington and three new domestic Main Event stores in Taylor, Michigan, Norman, Oklahoma and Greenville, North Carolina. This takes our new store openings year-to-date to 9 on our path to 11 new domestic store openings and one relocation in fiscal 2025, in line with our previously communicated expectations for the year.

我們的新店開發持續帶來強勁的回報，我們還有一系列即將開幕的新店。第三季度，我們在華盛頓州斯波坎開設了一家國內 D&B 門市，並在密西根州泰勒、俄克拉荷馬州諾曼和北卡羅來納州格林維爾開設了三家新的國內 Main Event 門市。今年迄今為止，我們已開設了 9 家新店，目標是在 2025 財年開設 11 家國內新店並搬遷一家門市，這與我們先前公佈的年度預期相符。

With the opening of our third international franchise location in the Manila, Philippines in October, we expect four more international openings over the next six months. As a reminder, we have secured agreements for over 35 additional stores in the coming years. We see international franchising as a driver of highly efficient incremental growth, monetizing our brand around the world with minimal investment and risk.

隨著我們在菲律賓馬尼拉開設第三家國際特許經營店，我們預計在接下來的六個月內還將開設四家國際特許經營店。再次提醒大家，我們已與超過 35 家門市簽訂了未來幾年的合作協議。我們認為國際特許經營是實現高效增量成長的驅動力，能夠以最小的投資和風險在全球範圍內實現品牌獲利。

As Tarun mentioned, we kicked off construction of our latest remodel prototype at three D&B stores at the beginning of November that we are excited to launch in their respective markets in early 2026. We believe this new prototype will maximize the impactful elements of our successful store remodels while eliminating previously ineffective spend for a high-return outcome, and we look forward to updating you on the progress in this area.

正如 Tarun 所提到的，我們在 11 月初啟動了三家 D&B 門市的最新改造原型建設，我們非常期待在 2026 年初在各自的市場推出這些原型。我們相信，這項新原型將最大限度地發揮我們成功的門市改造中具有影響力的要素，同時消除以前無效的支出，從而獲得高回報的結果，我們期待著向您匯報這方面的進展。

And with that, operator, please open the line for questions.

接線員，現在可以開始接受提問了。

(Operator Instructions) Eric Wold, Texas Capital Securities.

（操作說明）埃里克·沃爾德，德克薩斯資本證券。

Just a couple of questions. I guess, first off, with the marketing messages that you've been kind of switching and kind of trialing recently, can you talk about what you found has been resonating with the consumer? Is it a consumer that's still primarily driven by promotional offers, discounting and the like? Or are you seeing one that can be motivated by more kind of top-of-mind awareness marketing?

幾個問題。首先，我想談談您最近一直在調整和嘗試的行銷訊息，您能否談談您發現哪些訊息引起了消費者的共鳴？這樣的消費者是否仍主要受促銷活動、折扣等因素所驅動？或者，您看到一種可以透過更注重品牌認知度的行銷方式來激發消費者興趣的行銷方式？

That's a great question, Eric. What is really working just now is like smart value offers. And these are not necessarily discounts, but just packages that are put as a combo offer that allows our guests to appreciate and enjoy both our games entertainment and our food and beverage offering, and if that is seen as compelling value that's attractive to them.

埃里克，你問得好。目前真正有效的策略是提供智慧加值服務。這些不一定是折扣，而只是組合套餐，讓我們的客人能夠同時享受我們的遊戲娛樂和餐飲服務，如果這被認為物有所值，那麼對他們來說就很有吸引力。

So as I mentioned, one of the things that we have done differently in this quarter, and we will institutionalize as a process going forward is that we test everything with consumers and this value messaging resonated with them. And so we kind of launched this in November, and we are seeing a lot of traction for this message.

正如我剛才提到的，本季我們採取的一項不同做法，也是我們今後將制度化的一個流程，就是我們對所有產品都進行消費者測試，而這種價值訊息傳遞方式引起了他們的共鳴。因此，我們在11月份推出了這項服務，我們看到這一訊息得到了廣泛的關注。

Perfect. And then just a follow-up question on that. You're marketing obviously a combo food and beverage and game. You talked about the food and beverage comps have been positive again for kind of the second consecutive quarter, at least. Maybe talk about kind of what you're seeing as those consumers go into the midway.

完美的。然後，我還有一個後續問題。很明顯，你們的行銷對像是食品、飲料和遊戲三者的組合。你提到食品和飲料的同店銷售額至少連續第二季實現了正成長。或許可以談談你觀察到的消費者進入中途階段的情況。

Are you seeing more or less time from what you can monitor spent in the midway or more or less being spent per consumer? Any kind of trends there you can talk to?

您觀察到，消費者在消費過程中花費的時間是增加了還是減少了？或者說，每個消費者花的時間是增加了還是減少了？有什麼趨勢方面可以聊聊嗎？

Yeah, Eric, I've kind of spent now like five months in the company and have spent a lot of time in our midway. I think one of the things that we acknowledged in the last call was that we hadn't invested in the right level of innovation in the games area, in our Arcade, and that's something that we're beginning to do. We've launched a bunch of games in 2025.

是的，艾瑞克，我在公司已經待了大約五個月了，而且在我們的中途站待了很長時間。我認為我們在上次電話會議上承認的一件事是，我們在遊戲領域，也就是我們的街機廳，沒有進行足夠的創新投入，而這正是我們現在開始著手做的事情。我們在 2025 年推出了一系列遊戲。

And moving into 2026, actually, we already have a pipeline of more than 10 games that are associated with strong IPs. And we've tested all of them. So they are kind of lined up for launches in 2026. So I am really excited about the next year as far as our games business is concerned.

展望 2026 年，我們實際上已經有超過 10 款與強大 IP 相關的遊戲正在開發中。我們已經全部測試過了。所以它們基本上都計劃在 2026 年推出。所以，就我們遊戲業務而言，我對明年的發展感到非常興奮。

In addition, we are seeing a lot of interest and excitement around the Human Crane. And these are now in about 70% of our Dave & Buster's stores. By the end of this year, we'll complete rollout across the system, and then they'll be launched in main event in the first quarter of next year.

此外，我們看到大家對「人體起重機」這個動作表現出了濃厚的興趣和熱情。目前，我們約 70% 的 Dave & Buster's 門市都提供這些產品。到今年年底，我們將完成整個系統的推廣，然後它們將在明年第一季的主賽事中推出。

And as I said, these are incredible games. People absolutely love them. There's a strong TikTok or Instagram value to them, and we are seeing like less than a year kind of return on investment on these games. So yeah, that would be kind of my response.

正如我所說，這些遊戲太棒了。人們非常喜歡它們。這些遊戲在TikTok或Instagram上很有價值，我們看到這些遊戲的投資回報期不到一年。是的，這大概就是我的回答。

And I'll add one thing to that. Just in terms of spend within the Midway, we're continuing to see very healthy spend. And in fact, our guests are spending a bit more, and they are spending more time in the Midway as well. So we continue to see very healthy spending from the consumer there.

我還要補充一點。單就遊樂區內的消費而言，我們看到消費狀況持續保持良好動能。事實上，我們的客人消費更多了，他們在遊樂區停留的時間也更長了。因此，我們持續看到當地消費者支出非常健康。

Andrew Strelzik, BMO Capital Markets.

Andrew Strelzik，BMO資本市場。

Dan, for Andrew. Given Dave & Buster's high brand awareness, are refinements to the marketing media mix enough to change consumer perception? Or are you evaluating increased marketing investment to broaden reach and reinforce the updated value in experiencing messaging?

丹，替安德魯。鑑於 Dave & Buster's 品牌知名度很高，改進行銷媒體組合是否足以改變消費者的看法？或者，您是否正在評估增加行銷投入，以擴大覆蓋範圍並強化體驗訊息傳遞中更新的價值？

So Andrew, it's absolutely true that we have very strong brand awareness. I think again as far as the media planning and fighting is concerned, all we are saying is that it should be more data-driven and how do we invest in the right mix as far as linear television, connected television, and digital investments are concerned.

所以安德魯，你說的完全正確，我們的品牌知名度非常高。我認為，就媒體規劃和競爭而言，我們所強調的只是應該更加數據驅動，以及在傳統電視、連網電視和數位投資方面，我們應該如何進行正確的投資組合。

And reach is going to be important, absolutely critical. But I think in addition to reach, I think our learning is that we need to invest equal amounts of money in converting those into real customers. So it's really kind of now using a high level of science and system and process to invest versus kind of more guesswork that -- and impulse as far as media investment is concerned.

而觸達率將會非常重要，絕對至關重要。但我認為，除了提高觸達率之外，我們還需要投入同等的資金，將這些人轉化為真正的客戶。所以，現在媒體投資更多是運用科學、系統和流程，而不是靠猜測和衝動。

Got it. That was helpful. And then one quick follow-up. You've mentioned a refined remodel prototype coming soon that should deliver stronger results at a reasonable cost. What have been the biggest learnings as you finalize that format?

知道了。那很有幫助。然後還有一個簡短的後續問題。您提到即將推出改良型原型，它應該能夠以合理的成本帶來更好的效果。在最終確定格式的過程中，你們最大的收穫是什麼？

And is the aggregate remodel outperformance you've called out at roughly 700 basis points above the system still holding directionally?

您之前提到的整體改造表現比系統高出約 700 個基點，這種趨勢是否仍然成立？

So both Darin and I can take this question. So first of all, yes, we're still seeing a 700 basis point kind of impact -- positive impact of remodels. I think our biggest learning is that remodels work, and that's kind of almost a fundamental kind of truth, right, that you need to refresh your assets to ensure that your guests have the right experience.

所以達林和我都可以回答這個問題。首先，是的，我們仍然看到 700 個基點的影響——改造帶來的正面影響。我認為我們最大的收穫是，翻新改造確實有效，這幾乎是一個基本的真理，對吧？你需要更新你的資產，以確保你的客人有正確的體驗。

Our learning was that we had kind of overinvested capital in areas that did not really impact guest experience and kind of -- it was kind of wasted investment. And through, again, consumer insight work, we have now found like the areas where there is a direct correlation between our investment in guest experience and therefore, a repeat visit, and we are focusing on that now.

我們從中學到的教訓是，我們在一些對賓客體驗沒有實際影響的領域投入了過多的資金，這算是一種浪費的投資。透過消費者洞察工作，我們再次發現，在哪些方面，我們對顧客體驗的投資與顧客的再次光顧之間存在直接關聯，而我們現在正專注於此。

So we kind of -- we are saving a significant amount of capital now in our remodels. And as Darin said, that's kind of like a general message that we just will be far more responsible with our CapEx and general cost management. We will continue to invest. We have the capital to invest, but we'll use it purposefully and meaningfully.

所以，我們現在在房屋改造中節省了大量資金。正如達林所說，這其實是一個總體訊息，那就是我們將更負責任地管理我們的資本支出和一般成本。我們將繼續投資。我們有資金可以投資，但我們會合理有效地利用它。

Sharon Zackfia, William Blair.

莎倫·扎克菲亞，威廉·布萊爾。

It sounds like the food is doing tremendously and is going to bolster trends. I'm curious, as you look throughout the October quarter, did you see entertainment comps as well improve as the quarter progressed?

聽起來食品業發展勢頭迅猛，並將推動產業潮流。我很好奇，當您觀察整個十月份季度時，您是否也發現娛樂業的同店銷售額隨著季度的推進而有所改善？

We did -- hey, Sharon, we did see improvement on the entertainment line as well. And obviously, we believe we've got a lot more to leverage. We've been talking about our F&B and menu for a while for a few quarters now.

嘿，莎倫，我們也看到娛樂方面有所改善。顯然，我們相信我們還有更多可以利用的優勢。我們已經討論餐飲和菜單好幾個季度了。

And so we're really proud of the performance that we're seeing there. And so now that focus on the entertainment side is something that we anticipate seeing some good returns there as well. But we have -- we did see sequential improvement in that line.

因此，我們對他們在那裡的表現感到非常自豪。因此，我們現在對娛樂的關注，預計也會獲得一些好的回報。但是我們確實看到了該項指標的逐步改善。

And then I know you mentioned continued improved trends in November. Should I think about that as being similar to October? Just curious on that.

我知道您也提到11月份的趨勢持續改善。我應該把它看作和十月類似嗎？只是好奇而已。

And then on unit level margins, I mean, there's been pressure there for a while. Obviously, the sales have been pressured. What kind of comp do you think you need to get expansion on that line?

至於單位利潤率，我的意思是，這方面已經承受了一段時間的壓力。顯然，銷售受到了壓力。你認為需要什麼樣的競爭才能拓展這條產品線？

Yeah. So to your first question, yes, interpret that to say November has performed similar to October. Look, in terms of what type of same-store sales, look, we get to flat and positive same-store sales growth. We can manage and expand margins. It's -- while I think you'll see in Q3, we were able to manage our margins relatively well despite the 4% same-store sales decline.

是的。所以對於你的第一個問題，是的，可以這樣理解：11 月的表現與 10 月類似。你看，就同店銷售額而言，我們實現了持平或正的同店銷售成長。我們可以管理和擴大利潤空間。雖然我認為你會在第三季看到，儘管同店銷售額下降了 4%，但我們仍然能夠相對地控制利潤率。

We believe there's a lot more opportunity to reiterate what I mentioned. We're very focused on a number of margin enhancement initiatives right now. But look, we can grow margins with comps flattish. And so that's obviously what we're focused on.

我們認為還有很多機會可以重申我剛才提到的內容。我們目前正全力推動多項提升利潤率的措施。但你看，即使同業比較數據基本上持平，我們仍然可以提高利潤率。所以，這顯然是我們關注的重點。

(Operator Instructions) Brian Vaccaro, Raymond James.

（操作說明）布萊恩·瓦卡羅，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

So you noted the comps improved through the quarter, obviously. I wanted to ask just the two-year stack, it does look like it decelerated sequentially versus the second quarter. So maybe you could just kind of elaborate on how you view the underlying trend? And then did I hear correctly, Darin, you said the November comp similar to October, so down around 1%. I just wanted to clarify that that was the total comp.

顯然，您也注意到本季同店銷售額有所改善。我只想問一下兩年期的股票價格走勢，看起來與第二季度相比，其增速確實有所放緩。所以，能否詳細說明一下您對潛在趨勢的看法？達林，我沒聽錯吧，你說 11 月的比較數據與 10 月類似，下降了大約 1%。我只是想澄清一下，那就是總參賽人數。

Yeah. Yeah, that's right, Brian. Yeah. No, you're absolutely right. From a two-year stack perspective, I think it's -- that there was some deceleration. And that was largely driven by the softer start to the quarter relative to where we ended.

是的。沒錯，布萊恩。是的。不，你說得完全正確。從兩年的時間跨度來看，我認為──成長速度有所放緩。這主要是由於本季開局疲軟，與季末的疲軟表現相比，本季開局較為平淡。

But if you look at it from a two-year or a three-year perspective, you see a little deceleration on that front. But we continue to see those sequential trends in the areas that we're focused on, which really give us a lot of optimism around being focused on the areas that can really drive that same-store sales growth as we go through the quarter and into FY26.

但從兩年或三年的角度來看，你會發現這方面略有放緩。但我們繼續在我們關注的領域看到這些連續的趨勢，這讓我們對專注於能夠真正推動同店銷售成長的領域充滿樂觀，尤其是在本季和 2026 財年。

Okay. And then just a quick follow-up. I'm curious just how the walk-in versus corporate events business performed in the third quarter. And just heading into the important holiday season, could you give us a sense of how holiday bookings look or just broadly how you expect the corporate piece to perform kind of thinking year on year through the fourth quarter?

好的。然後還有一個簡短的後續問題。我很好奇第三季散客業務和企業活動業務的表現如何。眼看重要的假期季節即將到來，您能否大致介紹一下假日預訂情況，或者大致談談您對企業預訂業務在第四季度與去年同期相比的表現預期？

Yeah. So for the quarter, our special events was mid-single-digit growth year-over-year. And we're very pleased with the performance that the team has executed on there. As a reminder, we have effectively completed the rollout of in-store sales managers, which has really helped us drive even stronger performance in those locations.

是的。因此，本季我們的特別活動年增了中等個位數。我們對團隊在那裡的表現非常滿意。再次提醒大家，我們已經有效地完成了店內銷售經理的部署，這確實幫助我們在這些地區取得了更強勁的業績。

And as we look at pacing for the balance of the quarter, which is obviously an important time for us, we're pleased with where we are and anticipate continued year-over-year growth in Q4. So we feel good about where we're going to end the year.

展望本季剩餘時間的進展，這顯然對我們來說是一個重要的時期，我們對目前的進展感到滿意，並預計第四季度將繼續實現同比增長。所以我們對今年的最終成績感到滿意。

And ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll be concluding today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Tarun Lal for closing remarks.

女士們、先生們，今天的問答環節到此結束。現在我把發言權交還給塔倫·拉爾，請他作總結發言。

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining. In closing, Dave & Buster's is in the midst of an exciting chapter, one fueled by innovation, a renewed guest-first mindset and the passion of our incredible teams. We're sharpening execution and elevating every part of the experience from marketing and menu quality to operational excellence and games innovation.

謝謝操作員，也謝謝各位的參與。最後，Dave & Buster's 正處於一個令人興奮的新篇章，這一篇章的動力源於創新、以顧客至上的理念以及我們傑出團隊的熱情。我們正在提升執行力，並提升體驗的各個方面，從行銷和菜單品質到卓越營運和遊戲創新。

The results are already taking shape, reflecting the power of our iconic brand and the effectiveness of our back-to-basics strategy. With growing momentum and significant untapped potential, we are confidently positioning Dave & Buster's for sustained growth in same-store sales and cash flow and meaningful value creation for our guests and our shareholders. I look forward to speaking with you again soon. Have a great evening. Thank you.

成果已初見成效，體現了我們標誌性品牌的強大影響力以及我們回歸本源策略的有效性。憑藉著不斷增長的勢頭和巨大的未開發潛力，我們有信心使 Dave & Buster's 實現同店銷售額和現金流的持續增長，並為我們的顧客和股東創造有意義的價值。期待很快能再次與您交談。祝你有個美好的夜晚。謝謝。

And with that, we'll conclude today's conference call. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參加今天的報告會。現在您可以斷開線路了。