dave  buster’s entertainment inc shares were headed for their best day since 2020 wednesday as earnings got a boost from declining pay and food costs dave  buster’s play shares rallied as much as 268 to an intraday high of 4277 which would be their best oneday performance since nov 9 2020 when shares soared 333 according to factset data at last check shares were up around 19 wednesday’s move puts dave  buster’s shares up 13 year to date compared with an 11 gain by the sp 500 spx  late tuesday dave  buster’s reported an earnings beat along with a revenue miss and announced share buybacks truist securities analyst jake bartlett credited the stronger earnings to cost cuts including lower costs for wages and food “we are encouraged by sustained strong margins as costs decline and operating initiatives bear fruit” bartlett wrote bartlett said dave  buster’s is benefiting from “ongoing initiatives such as improved labor scheduling and falling costs” noting that average hourly pay was down about 05 from the fourth quarter of 2022 and that food costs were down about 3 year over year he pointed out that “margin improvements appear sustainable” and that storelevel margins of 346 beat both his estimate of 295 and the 326 consensus “with lower than expected labor the largest driver” bartlett maintained a buy rating and raised his price target to 63 from 60 he expects samestore sales declines to last through the fourth quarter but wrote that it would be “a function of lapping a postcovid surge in demand rather than macro pressure” in a note wednesday he wrote “the postcovid surge will be difficult to lap but underlying demand appears to be holding up despite macro pressures in our view” he expects to hear more next week when executives host a presentation for investors “we do not expect management to announce any silver bullets to sales growth at dave  buster’s virtual investor day on 613 but expect investors to come away more confident in its competitive positioning and margin expansion opportunities” bartlett said bmo capital analyst andrew strelzik who has a buy rating on the stock and hiked his target price to 60 said stronger margins offset softer comparisons and that he remains “encouraged by potential earnings implications of dave  buster’s evolving strategy and see attractive riskreward” of the nine analysts who cover dave  buster’s seven have buy ratings and two have holds with an average target price of 52