Delivery and online ordering are starting to work out in a big way for Cheesecake Factory Inc. David Gordon, president of the Calabasas restaurant chain, said during a conference call with analysts that 15 percent of revenue during the fourth quarter was from off-premises sales. For all of last year, the revenue generated by delivery and pickup orders was 14 percent, as compared to the 12 percent during 2017. “We believe this continued growth is being driven by our differentiated positioning, high quality, made-from-scratch menu and value proposition, supported by our creative on-brand marketing,” Gordon said during the call. For the fourth quarter ending Jan. 1, the restaurant operator reported adjusted net income of $27.3 million (60 cents a share) as compared to adjusted net income of $24.7 million (53 cents) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue increased by 2.3 percent to $585 million. The off-premises sales from Cheesecake Factory figured into recent research notes from analysts that follow the company. “The online ordering system and improving delivery capability are both growing and should be complementary drivers to the in-store traffic trends,” Nicole Miller Regan, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co., wrote in a recent report. And David Tarantino, restaurant analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co., wrote that delivery and online orders contributed to the comparable restaurant sales increase of 1.9 percent during the fourth quarter. “Internal factors supporting comps likely included good unit-level execution, further growth of off-premise sales … enhanced marketing and ongoing menu innovation,” he said. Tarantino noted that off-premises growth came from third-party delivery service DoorDash, as well as do-it-yourself take-out, and both “likely benefited from delivery-focused promotions.” In the coming year, Cheesecake Factory expects to acquire its remaining stake in North Italia, an upscale Italian chain owned by Fox Restaurant Concepts LLC in Phoenix. In 2016, the company entered a partnership with Fox to take a minority ownership in the restaurant brands North Italia and Flower Child. The North Italia purchase is expected to cost about $150 million. “Based on our estimates, we believe the acquisition likely will be roughly neutral to earning per share in 2019 (excluding any integration costs), with elevated pre-opening expense related to the brand’s rapid pace of growth and increased interest expense on the debt used to fund the transaction offsetting the incremental restaurant-level profit dollars,” the Baird research note said. North Italia is planning to open five to six new locations this year to add to the 17 already operating.