Cheesecake Beats Expectations

Cheesecake Factory Inc. (CAKE) beat Wall Street estimates on earnings and revenue in its fiscal third quarter. The Calabasas restaurant chain on Wednesday reported net income of $34.6 million (70 cents a share) for the quarter ending Sept. 27, compared with net income of $26.2 million (52 cents) in the same period a year earlier. Revenue increased by 6.3 percent to $560 million. Analysts on average expected earnings of 61 cents on revenue of $556 million, according to Thomson Financial Network. With comparable sales for the third quarter increasing 1.7 percent, Chief Executive David Overton said the company reached 27 quarter of consecutive positive comparable sales. “We meaningfully outpaced the casual dining industry during the third quarter, underscoring our differentiated positioning as we remain a destination of choice in a competitive landscape,” Overton said in a prepared statement. The earnings were released after the market closed. Shares closed down 24 cents or half of 1 percent, to $49.12 on the Nasdaq. In after-hours trading, shares jumped as much as 8 percent.