CAKEThe Cheesecake Factory Incorporated
Is the business good?
The checks split: earnings fully cash-backed (1.9×) and margins widening, but returns that lean on debt.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash. Conversion is improving vs a year ago.
Negative operating leverage, costs are rising faster than sales, squeezing margins as it grows.
Leverage-amplified, a high assets-to-equity ratio does much of the work. ROE 36% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is CAKE?
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated earns 18% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so the business is worth more the bigger it gets.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 9.2 points above what the capital costs: growth creates value
- Operating margin
- 5.3%
Operating margin · Restaurants median 7.8% · 12 months to Q2 2026
- Cash conversion
- 1.91×
Cash conversion · 1.72× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- +0.81%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | −18% |
| FY2021 | 2.8% |
| FY2022 | 1.2% |
| FY2023 | 3.2% |
| FY2024 | 5.0% |
| FY2025 | 5.0% |
Details›
- Operating margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 5.3%
- Net margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 4.6%
- Free cash flow margin
- 5.3%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $3.88B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $206M
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $179M
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 18%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.