Cheesecake Factory reports record $1.03 billion revenue — Fortune

U.S. restaurant chain Cheesecake Factory reported record quarterly revenue of $1.03 billion, up 14% from the same period a year earlier. As Fortune reports, comparable sales at the chain’s restaurants rose by 15.2%, while adjusted earnings were $1.02 per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations.

The company opened six restaurants during the quarter and still expects to open up to 26 locations this year. Chairman and CEO David Overton said the brand’s popularity among different generations, including younger guests, supports the relevance of the chain’s core concept. The company also attributed part of the sales growth to significant activity on social media.

Obama’s joke prompted a White House response

Cheesecake Factory’s financial report was released amid a political dispute that began after former U.S. President Barack Obama spoke in Cleveland. Commenting on the decor of the White House during Donald Trump’s presidency, he compared it to a Cheesecake Factory restaurant and mentioned Saddam Hussein.

Trump responded by telling reporters that the comment showed why Obama was a “bad president.” At a rally in Corinth, Mississippi, he called Cheesecake Factory a successful company and said the cost of renovating the White House was insignificant.

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The official White House account on X published a stylized Cheesecake Factory menu featuring names related to the administration’s policies. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also dined at a chain restaurant near the White House and, apparently referring to the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, compared it to Darth Vader’s tomb.

The chain’s designer did not support the comparison

Rick McCormack, Cheesecake Factory’s former vice president of design, told CNN that the chain’s restaurants do not resemble Trump’s White House. He called the comparison “a little sad,” considering the country’s other problems, and described the discussion as an example of political pettiness.

The company’s shares have more than doubled this year and reached an all-time high of $118.63 earlier in October. Cheesecake Factory itself did not publicly comment on Obama’s remarks, and the issue was not raised during the company’s quarterly call with investors.