The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor CAKE

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
67/100
Moderate

About The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor

The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated operates and licenses restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates bakeries that produce cheesecakes and other baked products for its restaurants, international licensees, third-party bakery customers, external foodservice operators, retailers, and distributors. The company operates restaurants under the brands comprising The Cheesecake Factory, North Italia, Flower Child, and Fox Restaurant Concepts. The Cheesecake Factory … Full CAKE analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.80), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
  • ROIC Sustainably Above Peers ROIC at 77.8th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
75

Where CAKE ranks in Restaurants

The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor ranks #14 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants by moat score — the top 25%. The widest moat in the group is Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) at 83/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near CAKE in Restaurants
# Company Moat score Rating
10 Yum China Holdings, Inc. YUMC 70/100 Moderate
11 Texas Roadhouse, Inc. TXRH 69/100 Moderate
12 Nathan's Famous, Inc. NATH 68/100 Moderate
13 Brinker International, Inc. EAT 68/100 Moderate
14 The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor CAKE 67/100 Moderate
15 El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. LOCO 65/100 Moderate
16 Shake Shack, Inc. SHAK 64/100 Moderate
17 Dutch Bros Inc. BROS 63/100 Moderate
18 Dine Brands Global, Inc. Common DIN 61/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How CAKE scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 75 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 67 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 48 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 72 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 60 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 73 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding CAKE's moat

What is The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor's moat score?

The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor (CAKE) scores 66 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #14 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants, the top 25%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 56 companies in Restaurants. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (75/100) and its weakest is Customer Stickiness (48/100).

How does The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor compare with other Restaurants companies?

The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor ranks #14 of 57 scored companies in Restaurants by moat score. The widest moat in Restaurants is Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) at 83/100. The companies ranked closest are Brinker International, Inc. (EAT) at 68 just above it and El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (LOCO) at 65 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 56 companies in Restaurants. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for The Cheesecake Factory Incorpor?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and CAKE scores: Pricing Power (75), Cost Advantage (67), Customer Stickiness (48), Capital Efficiency (72), Resilience (60), Scale & Market Position (73). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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