Comments for CAKE - Stockpickr! Your Source for Stock Ideas

Comments for CAKE

Added By	Comments	Type	Date Added
High Dividends	17.4	Love	April 30, 2008
High Dividends	14.7	Love	April 10, 2008
High Dividends	14.7	Love	April 10, 2008
Stallion5306	Great business success.	Love	March 01, 2008
sarah z	The unique, casual dining restaurant recently increased its stock buyback plan by $10 million. Now, the Calabasas Hills, Calf.-based company has about 17.5 million shares available for repurchase. In order to finance the repurchase, the company said they expect to generate between $80 and $90 million in free cash flow throughout 2008. The company, who operates 139 restaurants, is also negotiating a deal with its lenders to increase its credit capacity by $50 million to $100 million to also help fund the buyback. In other news, the company increased the size of its board from 6 members to 8 members and elected Allen Bernstein and Alexander Cappello to fill the newly created spots, beginning Feb 12. "The extension of our repurchase authorization reflects our confidence in The Cheesecake Factory and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to increase shareholder value," said David Overton, Chairman and CEO. On February 5th, CAKE reported full year 2007 earnings of $1.04 per share. This result was in-line with the consensus of the 20 analysts following the company and beat last year's results by 2.0%. However, fourth-quarter earnings of $15.2 million, or 22 cents a share missed analysts' estimates of 26 cents a share. Revenue for the quarter rose 13% to $406.3 million, but fell short of the $413 million forecast. The company said bad weather conditions that resulted in lower-then-expected restaurant traffic severely hurt the restaurants same-store sales. Analyst Greg Ruedy from Stephens Investment Bankers considers The Cheesecake Factory a "best-of-breed" casual dining operator and maintains his overweight rating on the stock. Since CAKE missed fourth quarter expectations, he admits the company is not immune to the challenges in the consumer and commodity environment, but he feels their 2008 business strategy is best suited to withstand it. The company took down the number of restaurant openings in 2008 from 17 to 7-9, with the extra cash flow going towards share repurchases. "And the 2008 menu pricing plans are favorable to protect the brand and the consumer," added Ruedy.	Love	February 27, 2008
sarah z	Last week, we had a buyback announcement from Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) that I believe makes the stock look pretty tasty. The repurchase authorized last week was for another 5 million shares of CAKE, taking the total up to 21 million shares. Under this program, the company has already bought back about 13.5 million shares. In the current quarter, CAKE repurchased 2.2 million shares for about $49 million. Although the casual dining chain missed Wall Street expectations in the third quarter, it's still standing tall against the headwind of slowing consumer spending. Early last month, analyst Christopher O'Cull of SunTrust Robinson Humphrey upgraded Cheesecake Factory from neutral to buy, saying that earnings could grow despite consumer spending and cost concerns. O'Cull added that the company had "clearly outperformed the casual dining segment." This year has not been one of the best for the restaurant sector, to say the least. While the sector struggled to get past higher raw material prices and labor costs on the one hand and a surge in gasoline prices on the other, it was faced with the credit crunch. I certainly wouldn't say to ignore the possibility that there could be a continued economic slowdown. However, Cheesecake Factory is positioned in the upscale casual segment, which is less impacted by these spending pressures than its peers catering to low- and middle-income consumers. Analyst Jeffrey Bernstein of Lehman Brothers has an overweight rating on the company and said its 2008 guidance of 22% to 24% EPS growth was a "pleasant surprise." Bernstein added that the stock represented "compelling value for long-term investors." Goldman Sachs analyst Steven Kron said in a note to investors that the company is "fundamentally better-positioned versus peers in the current environment." According to analyst Steve West of Stifel Nicholas, Cheesecake Factory's new Kitchen Management System initiative may be expected to boost operating margins in the future, enabling the company to achieve its long-term operating margin target of 12%.	Love	December 19, 2007
vc4u2c	Nice good. Nice ambience. Price is cheap now.	Love	November 10, 2007
FRANKLIN32	Low and has been a possible take out.	Love	November 08, 2007
G. Raymond Curtis	Another 1 of "Cramer's" picks" & A. G. Edward's.	Love	November 06, 2007
SWJT	GOOD BUYOUT---PLEASE--SOMEBODY BUY IT!!	Love	October 25, 2007
schillibee	Cramer recommended	Love	September 26, 2007
patdee1999	bought below 25 on what I believe to be a good valuation and it has a good management team	Love	August 26, 2007
epmwood	long term growth	Love	July 28, 2007
wendellfox	Earings should be up for 2nd quarter	Love	July 18, 2007
Novemberlady1	Love the food and their restaurant	Love	July 13, 2007
Georgoulis	Think this is undervalued and a potential takeover candidate !	Love	July 08, 2007
Barrons	From Barron's 7-2-07: "In retailing, most people look at the demand side. I always focus on the supply side. Look at casual-dining restaurant companies like P.F. Chang [PFCB], Cheesecake Factory [CAKE], Red Robin Gourmet [RRGB], Buffalo Wild Wings [BWLD] and California Pizza Kitchen [CPKI]. They're growing 15% to 40% per year and generally have P/E multiples of 20 to 30. By my calculation, based on the rate they are opening restaurants, Americans are going to have to eat 28 meals a week out of the house by 2011 to justify these multiples. So unless Americans are going to get very fat or very rich or their houses are going to burn down, that's unlikely to happen."	Hate	June 30, 2007
mark440	Great restaurant. All stores opened still in operation and profitable. Takeover Target.	Love	June 28, 2007
zapdude	Anticipating acquisition	Love	June 21, 2007
homogenik1	Private Equity Restructiuring Candidate	Love	June 21, 2007
mdetone	Value/growth play. Regional-nation growth. Take-over potential (slight chance).	Love	June 21, 2007
Sammuch	I no this business and once they raise there menu prices! No stoping this stock moving 15%.	Love	June 13, 2007
Mary Dolan	Jim Cramer	Love	June 01, 2007
Faisal Laljee	The lines outside these retaurants never cease to amaze me. On a Wednesday night, I had to wait 30 minutes at their Pasadena location to be seated. On Monther's Day, I waited over an hour at the Marina Del Rey Cheesecake Factory. I have been to at least 5 locations of Cheesecake Factory in Southern California (not including their Grand Lux Cafe chain). And there has not been a single instance when I did not have to wait in line. Over the last 8 months, the stock has based between $24 and $30 and failed to breakout above the $30 level. However, there are two key demographic shifts that make CAKE a compelling case. The first is baby boomers. This is perhaps the wealthiest generation the US has ever seen and they like to spend on good food. CAKE should benefit from their wealth and spending. Secondly, dual income couples have no choice but to eat out. As the concept of dual income becomes more saturated, all restaurants stand to benefit. But CAKE has a dinstinct advantage over its competitors. It has only 133 locations, including 8 upscale locations (Grand Lux). So there is plenty of room for growth. Oh and did I mention the probability of a short squeeze with the 20% plus short interest?	Love	May 29, 2007
risavy	now holding	Love	May 27, 2007
MaryD	Cramer	Love	May 25, 2007
jesusfreak	Ripe to be taken private	Love	May 17, 2007
Renitajp	i love to eat here!	Love	May 17, 2007
SDINVEST	Love it. Will continue to rake in profits. Long term Invest.	Love	May 11, 2007
Freeman ganyo	Great Balance sheet. Lots of cash and you know what that means. Takeover	Love	May 09, 2007