William Blair Issues Pessimistic Estimate for CAKE Earnings

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) – Stock analysts at William Blair dropped their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Cheesecake Factory in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, February 26th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now anticipates that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $0.55 for the quarter, down from their prior 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.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on CAKE. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $56.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Cheesecake Factory from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wedbush raised their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.19.

Cheesecake Factory Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of CAKE stock opened at $52.47 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $51.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. Cheesecake Factory has a 12 month low of $33.05 and a 12 month high of $57.32. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.51.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.04 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $912.67 million. Cheesecake Factory had a return on equity of 45.89% and a net margin of 4.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cheesecake Factory

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position 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 during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Cheesecake Factory in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,149.5% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,321 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Cheesecake Factory Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio is 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.