It hasn't been the best quarter for Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY) shareholders, since the share price has fallen 23% in that time. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last three years have been pleasing. In the last three years the share price is up, 75%: better than the market.

Since it's been a strong week for Dave & Buster's Entertainment shareholders, let's have a look at trend of the longer term fundamentals.

View our latest analysis for Dave & Buster's Entertainment

To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During three years of share price growth, Dave & Buster's Entertainment moved from a loss to profitability. That would generally be considered a positive, so we'd expect the share price to be up.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. This free interactive report on Dave & Buster's Entertainment's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Dave & Buster's Entertainment provided a TSR of 0.8% over the last twelve months. But that return falls short of the market. But at least that's still a gain! Over five years the TSR has been a reduction of 7% per year, over five years. It could well be that the business is stabilizing. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for Dave & Buster's Entertainment (1 is potentially serious) that you should be aware of.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.