Brinker International (EAT) Competitors

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) and Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) are both mid-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, earnings, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts rate CAKE or EAT?

Cheesecake Factory currently has a consensus target price of $59.38, indicating a potential downside of 9.74%. Brinker International has a consensus target price of $156.41, indicating a potential upside of 2.01%. Given Brinker International's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Brinker International is more favorable than Cheesecake Factory.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cheesecake Factory	4 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.19
Brinker International	0 Sell rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.24

Does the media favor CAKE or EAT?

In the previous week, Cheesecake Factory had 20 more articles in the media than Brinker International. MarketBeat recorded 29 mentions for Cheesecake Factory and 9 mentions for Brinker International. Brinker International's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Cheesecake Factory's score of 0.55 indicating that Brinker International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Cheesecake Factory	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Brinker International	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CAKE or EAT more profitable?

Brinker International has a net margin of 6.50% compared to Cheesecake Factory's net margin of 4.33%. Brinker International's return on equity of 333.03% beat Cheesecake Factory's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cheesecake Factory	4.33%	46.06%	5.98%
Brinker International	6.50%	333.03%	14.37%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in CAKE or EAT?

94.5% of Cheesecake Factory shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.4% of Cheesecake Factory shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Brinker International shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CAKE or EAT?

Cheesecake Factory has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Brinker International. Cheesecake Factory is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Brinker International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cheesecake Factory	$3.62B	0.90	$156.78M	$3.19	20.62
Brinker International	$4.42B	1.54	$155.30M	$7.25	21.15

Which has more risk & volatility, CAKE or EAT?

Cheesecake Factory has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Brinker International has a beta of 1.7, indicating that its share price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Brinker International beats Cheesecake Factory on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.