Cheesecake Factory Profit Rises - Update

(RTTNews) - Cheesecake Factory Inc. Wednesday reported an increase in profit for the fourth quarter that fell short of Wall Street estimates by a penny.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported earnings of $32.4 million or $0.66 per share, up from $27.2 million, or $0.54 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters anticipated earnings of $0.67 per share.

Revenue rose to $603.1 million from $526.8 million last year, above the analyst consensus of %595.05 million.

The casual dining restaurant chain reported comparable restaurant sales growth of 1.1 percent. The company noted that this quarter's comparable-sales increase was its 28th straight.

Chief Executive David Overton said, "We significantly outperformed the casual dining industry again during the fourth quarter as we continued to take market share."

The company opened five Cheesecake Factory restaurants and one Grand Lux Cafe during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016. The California-based company operates 208 restaurants, including 194 namesake and 13 Grand Lux Cafes.

CAKE closed trading at $60.10, down $0.57 or $0.94%, on the Nasdaq. The stock further dropped $0.60 or 1.00% in the after-hours trade.