Zacks Research Has Bearish Estimate for CAKE Q1 Earnings

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) – Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Cheesecake Factory in a report issued on Wednesday, March 5th. Zacks Research analyst H. Ray now forecasts that the restaurant operator will post earnings of $0.80 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.85. The consensus estimate for Cheesecake Factory’s current full-year earnings is $3.71 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Cheesecake Factory’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.13 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.58 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.13 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.64 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.20 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.65 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $3.99 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $4.42 EPS.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.13. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 45.89%. The firm had revenue of $920.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $912.67 million.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CAKE. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $51.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Cheesecake Factory from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CAKE opened at $49.93 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $51.75 and its 200 day moving average is $46.43. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $33.05 and a fifty-two week high of $57.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.44.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,805 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,051 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,045 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,772 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 616 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 39,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,134,687.36. This represents a 42.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman David Overton sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 3,092,147 shares in the company, valued at $164,131,162.76. This trade represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s payout ratio is currently 33.75%.

About Cheesecake Factory

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.