William Blair Issues Positive Estimate for CAKE Earnings

Key Points

• William Blair has revised its Q3 2025 earnings estimate for Cheesecake Factory from $0.57 to $0.61 per share, with a full-year earnings estimate of $3.71 per share.
• Cheesecake Factory's stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" among analysts, with a target price averaging $61.06.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 1.7% and a payout ratio of 33.86%.

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE - Free Report) - Investment analysts at William Blair increased their Q3 2025 earnings per share estimates for Cheesecake Factory in a report released on Wednesday, July 30th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now expects that the restaurant operator will earn $0.61 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.57. 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 FY2025 earnings at $3.79 EPS.

CAKE has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cheesecake Factory has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.06.

Cheesecake Factory Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:CAKE traded down $1.53 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.38. 1,941,239 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,545,028. Cheesecake Factory has a 1-year low of $33.50 and a 1-year high of $69.70. The firm has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The restaurant operator reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.10. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 46.15% and a net margin of 4.33%. The business had revenue of $955.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $945.82 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Cheesecake Factory's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alexander L. Cappello sold 12,388 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.88, for a total transaction of $816,121.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,806 shares in the company, valued at $448,379.28. This represents a 64.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 42,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.00, for a total value of $2,402,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 40,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,289,168. This represents a 51.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 145,388 shares of company stock valued at $8,273,113. 8.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Cheesecake Factory by 0.4% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 156.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,045,705 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $148,204,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859,194 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 83.5% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,591,205 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $126,088,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,722 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,766,131 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $85,940,000 after acquiring an additional 689,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,604,626 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $78,081,000 after acquiring an additional 241,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.