William Blair Issues Pessimistic Forecast for CAKE Earnings

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) - Investment analysts at William Blair reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Cheesecake Factory in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 22nd. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the restaurant operator will post earnings of $0.82 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.83. William Blair 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 Q2 2025 earnings at $1.10 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $3.73 EPS.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $55.00 to $48.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Cheesecake Factory from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $52.06.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Performance

NASDAQ CAKE traded up $0.92 on Thursday, reaching $51.07. 1,153,822 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,197,841. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $33.44 and a fifty-two week high of $57.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.90.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CAKE. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,114,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,288,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 166.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,076,347 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $51,062,000 after purchasing an additional 673,076 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,827,000. Finally, JCP Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 181.3% during the 4th quarter. JCP Investment Management LLC now owns 667,210 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $31,652,000 after buying an additional 430,000 shares during the last quarter. 94.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory's payout ratio is 33.75%.

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.