William Blair Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for CAKE

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at William Blair dropped their Q3 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report issued on Wednesday, February 26th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now forecasts that the restaurant operator will post earnings of $0.55 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.56. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Cheesecake Factory's current full-year earnings is $3.71 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Cheesecake Factory's Q4 2025 earnings at $1.27 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.14 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.19.

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Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

CAKE traded up $1.56 during trading on Thursday, reaching $54.03. 1,549,506 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,640,132. Cheesecake Factory has a 52 week low of $33.05 and a 52 week high of $57.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.63 and a 200 day moving average of $46.17. The stock has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $920.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 33.75%.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In other Cheesecake Factory news, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.08, for a total value of $5,308,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 29,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.56, for a total transaction of $1,553,240.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,443,458 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $258,238,000 after purchasing an additional 21,096 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,876,295 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $76,084,000 after acquiring an additional 67,550 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Cheesecake Factory by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,412,483 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $67,008,000 after acquiring an additional 155,614 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Cheesecake Factory by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,363,051 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $64,663,000 after acquiring an additional 186,026 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Cheesecake Factory during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company's stock.

Cheesecake Factory Company Profile

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated operates and licenses restaurants in the United States and Canada. The company operates bakeries that produce cheesecakes and other baked products for its restaurants, international licensees, third-party bakery customers, external foodservice operators, retailers, and distributors.