Brokerages Set The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) Price Target at $81.00

Shares of The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.00.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Cheesecake Factory in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Cheesecake Factory from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cheesecake Factory from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Cheesecake Factory from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Cheesecake Factory from $91.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th.

Insider Transactions at Cheesecake Factory

In related news, President David M. Gordon sold 31,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.03, for a total transaction of $3,515,458.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 26,875 shares in the company, valued at $2,957,056.25. The trade was a 54.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Eliot Clark sold 68,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.30, for a total transaction of $6,841,770.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,109 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,479,323.70. The trade was a 60.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 214,281 shares of company stock worth $22,249,374. 8.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cheesecake Factory

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,059.3% in the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 618,056 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $33,771,000 after purchasing an additional 564,744 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Cheesecake Factory in the second quarter valued at about $38,020,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 24.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,057,118 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $112,401,000 after acquiring an additional 407,223 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cheesecake Factory by 214.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 512,085 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $25,850,000 after acquiring an additional 349,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in shares of Cheesecake Factory by 1,583.7% during the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 287,219 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $14,499,000 after acquiring an additional 270,160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Cheesecake Factory

Here are the key news stories impacting Cheesecake Factory this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher earnings expectations: Zacks Research raised its EPS forecasts across several periods, including FY2026 to $4.36 from $3.87, FY2027 to $4.64 from $4.24 and FY2028 to $5.29 from $4.82. Zacks maintained a “Strong Buy” rating, suggesting analysts see continued operating momentum. Zacks Research earnings estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Strong second-quarter performance remains supportive: CAKE recently reported $1.03 billion in revenue and $1.44 in EPS, exceeding estimates of $999.54 million and $1.18, respectively. Revenue increased 7.7% year over year, while comparable sales, traffic and restaurant-level margins also improved. The company declared a $0.30 quarterly dividend and continued share repurchases. Strong Cheesecake Factory second-quarter results
• Neutral Sentiment: CAKE was named to PEOPLE’s 2026 Companies That Care list for the sixth consecutive year. The recognition may benefit employee retention and brand reputation, but it is unlikely to have a material near-term earnings impact. Companies That Care recognition
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling is a prominent concern: President David Gordon sold 31,950 shares for about $3.5 million, reducing his direct holdings by 54.31%. Director Edie Ames also sold 3,000 shares for approximately $320,850. Reports indicate CAKE insiders have made numerous sales and no open-market purchases in the past six months, potentially signaling profit-taking after the stock’s sharp advance. Cheesecake Factory insider transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and analyst caution may limit upside: The stock trades at roughly 30 times earnings, while the reported consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $81. That target is substantially below recent trading levels, increasing the risk of profit-taking despite improving fundamentals.

Cheesecake Factory Price Performance

Shares of CAKE opened at $111.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.36. Cheesecake Factory has a fifty-two week low of $43.07 and a fifty-two week high of $118.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.54 million. Cheesecake Factory had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 43.97%. Cheesecake Factory’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Cheesecake Factory will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cheesecake Factory Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 11th. Cheesecake Factory’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.52%.

About Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ:CAKE) is an American restaurant company and distributor renowned for its full-service casual-dining concept and specialty cheesecakes. Headquartered in Calabasas Hills, California, the company operates more than 200 restaurants under The Cheesecake Factory® brand across the United States, Puerto Rico and select international markets. In addition to sit-down dining, Cheesecake Factory franchised locations offer catering and take-out services, while a separate manufacturing arm supplies branded cheesecakes and desserts to supermarkets, hotels and other foodservice operators.

The origins of the brand trace back to a small cheesecake bakery founded in Detroit in the 1940s.