Obama Mocked Cheesecake Factory, Trump Defended It. Meanwhile Its Sales Are Humming, and the Stock Has More Than Doubled This Year
“You can’t buy that kind of attention. A former president made your restaurant the punchline, and a sitting president called you a very successful company. That’s a week of free national advertising.”
Jay Aldebert, speaking to Moneywise
“The smartest move is to stay out of the fight and keep seating tables. Publicity makes people curious. It doesn’t fix a profit and loss issue. And the traffic numbers were there before anyone in Washington said a word.”
Jay Aldebert, speaking to Moneywise
After Barack Obama joked about Cheesecake Factory and Donald Trump defended it, Moneywise’s Brian O’Connell asked whether the publicity explains a stock that has more than doubled this year. Jay Aldebert, Chief Growth Officer at International Services Inc., a business consulting firm, says the attention is free advertising, but publicity doesn’t fix a P&L. He points to the operating evidence underneath it: traffic growth, not just higher menu prices, on a margin thin enough that a small slip in labor or traffic shows up fast.
Read seven more quotes from Jay in this article
“I’ve spent 26 years in small and medium-sized businesses, and the first thing I check is whether the money is real, and with CAKE, it is.”
Jay Aldebert, speaking to Moneywise
“Cheesecake Factory grew traffic 9.5% last quarter and beat the casual dining index by 940 basis points. That’s more people walking in the door, not just higher prices on the menu, and that’s a real improvement.”
Jay Aldebert, speaking to Moneywise
“CAKE kept about 5.1 cents of every dollar as adjusted net income. In a business that thin, a small slip in labor or traffic shows up fast.”
Jay Aldebert, speaking to Moneywise
“Most people in this industry will tell you a giant menu kills margins. More inventory, more waste, more training, more ways to get it wrong, but Cheesecake Factory turned that problem into a weapon. One table can have five people and five different budgets, and everybody finds something. Management credits industry-leading retention for pulling that off.”
Jay Aldebert, speaking to Moneywise
“You have to know what you’re paying for.”
Jay Aldebert, speaking to Moneywise
“That works out to about $5.15 a share, so today’s price is about 20.6 times next year’s earnings. That’s not cheap, and it’s not crazy.”
Jay Aldebert, speaking to Moneywise
“They said it’s prudent to remain measured and keep 2027 close to their historical plan. When the people running the company won’t extrapolate the surge, investors shouldn’t either.”
Jay Aldebert, speaking to Moneywise
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