Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) Announces Earnings Results

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $961.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $949.03 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 47.09% and a net margin of 3.96%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.04 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Cheesecake Factory’s conference call:

• Delivered a strong year — record annual revenue and adjusted diluted EPS of $3.77 for fiscal 2025, with Q4 adjusted diluted EPS of $1 and over $206 million returned to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.
• Accelerating unit growth: the company opened 25 restaurants in 2025 (~7% unit growth), opened 7 in Q4, and expects to open as many as 26 restaurants in 2026 (including 1–2 international licensed Cheesecake Factory locations).
• Margin improvement across concepts: The Cheesecake Factory’s adjusted restaurant-level profit margin rose 60 bps to 17.6%, with North Italia and Flower Child also reporting solid mid-to-high teens mature margins.
• 2026 outlook: management forecasts ~$3.9 billion in revenue at the midpoint and a ~5% net income margin, assuming low- to mid-single-digit inflation, roughly $210 million in cash CapEx, and ~26 net openings.
• Near-term headwinds and accounting items: Q1 includes an estimated ~1% weather-related sales drag, Q4 recorded a $24.6 million pre-tax charge (impairments, lease terminations and other items), a $17.3 million gift-card breakage revenue benefit affected comparisons, and the company has $69 million of convertible notes due June 2026.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of Cheesecake Factory stock opened at $62.42 on Friday. Cheesecake Factory has a 12-month low of $42.69 and a 12-month high of $69.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.02.

Cheesecake Factory Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 4th. This is an increase from Cheesecake Factory’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CAKE has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Cheesecake Factory from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho set a $75.00 price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Stephens downgraded Cheesecake Factory from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $61.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.63.

Key Cheesecake Factory News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cheesecake Factory this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company raised its quarterly dividend (11.1% increase to $0.30) and boosted share-repurchase authorization — a clear capital-return signal that supports the stock. Boosts Dividend and Buyback Authorization
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 revenue rose ~4.4% to $961.6M and the company reported an EPS beat vs. some consensus figures — evidence of top-line resilience driven by 7% unit growth. Company Press Release / Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management signaled up to 26 new openings in 2026 and issued FY revenue guidance slightly above consensus (~$3.9B), which supports growth expectations. Expansion & Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $74 and kept a Buy rating — a constructive analyst endorsement that can support upside. Citigroup Price Target Raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts issued mixed views: Wells Fargo lifted its target to $60 but kept an Equal Weight rating, and Stephens downgraded to Equal Weight — signaling varied conviction across the sell side. Analyst Notes
• Neutral Sentiment: Full Q4 earnings call transcript and slide deck are available for details on cost trends and comps — useful for digging into whether cost improvements are sustainable. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Comparable (same-store) sales at the namesake Cheesecake Factory brand declined (~2.2%) and operating margins narrowed (operating margin ~3.5%), raising concerns about demand/sales mix and cost pressure. Comp Sales & Margin Pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets and data providers flagged that EPS and revenue metrics, on different adjustments, missed expectations and the stock initially fell on the report — investors worried about near-term profitability despite gross-margin improvements. Market Reaction / Misses
• Negative Sentiment: Margin and traffic trends are mixed across brands; several analysts kept cautious stances (Hold/Equal Weight) citing premium valuation vs. traffic uncertainty. Cautious Analyst Views

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 661.7% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 716 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Arax Advisory Partners bought a new position in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 3,343.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,102 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,333 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 211.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares during the period. 94.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.