Small Cap Earnings Preview: Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ: PLAY), TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO)

After the close on September 8, 2015, two very popular and high profile small cap companies are slated to report quarterly financials and could provide investors with a modest surprise on the upside.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) is reporting results for the fiscal quarter ending June 30, 2015 and Wall Street analysts are expecting the Company to announce $0.23 in earnings per share (EPS) on $204.3 million in revenue.  Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc., is the owner and operator of 77 venues in North America that combine dining and entertainment and offer customers the opportunity to "Eat Drink Play and Watch," all in one location. Dave & Buster's offers a full menu of "Fun American New Gourmet" entrees and appetizers, a full selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and an extensive assortment of entertainment attractions centered on playing games and watching live sports and other televised events. Dave & Buster's currently has stores in 30 states and Canada.

Since the Company went public last year, it has reported an average upside EPS surprise of 25% for each of the past three quarters.  For the fiscal year ending January 2016, the Street is forecasting EPS of $1.07 as compared with $0.76 a year ago.  Despite the recent market selloff, PLAY shares are less than 10% below their 52-week high and actually trade above both their 20-day and 200-day moving average. Plus, the stock boasts a Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 56 as compared with the poor performing and lower RSI value (39) Russell 2000 Index.   Analysts representing major brokerage houses that cover the stock on a research basis currently maintain a price target of around $42, which represents a 17% increase over the September 4th close.

Longtime consumer technology player TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO) reports financial results for its July 2015 quarter after the close on September 8, 2015. Consensus earnings per share for the period are projected to rise to $0.09 versus $0.08 a year ago on sales of $96 million an 11% rise from the same period in 2014.  TiVo Inc. is a global leader in next-generation television services. With global headquarters in San Jose, CA and offices in New York, NY, Boston, MA, Durham, NC, and Warsaw, Poland, TiVo's innovative cloud-based Software-as-a-Service solutions enable viewers to consume content across multiple screens in and out-of-the home. The TiVo solution provides an all-in-one approach for navigating the 'content chaos' by seamlessly combining live, recorded, on-demand and over-the-top television into one intuitive user interface with simple universal search, discovery, viewing and recording from a variety of devices, creating the ultimate viewing experience. TiVo products and services are available at retail or through a growing number of pay-tv operators world-wide.

TiVo has exceeded Wall Street expectations for three of the last quarters and EPS for the 2016 fiscal year ending in January 2016 are forecast to jump 32% to $0.37, up from $0.28 last year. The stock has bounced off of its recent 52-week lows despite very weak technical characteristics. With an average Wall Street target price of $16, any upside surprise could provide a boost to these shares.