Cheesecake Factory vs Cracker Barrel
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The short version
- Cheesecake Factory is the larger business, with $3.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $3.3B for Cracker Barrel.
- Cheesecake Factory grew revenue faster (4.8%, against −4.7%).
- Cheesecake Factory kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (5.0% operating margin, against −0.4%).
- Cheesecake Factory turned more of its sales into free cash flow (4.1% FCF margin, against 2.7%).
| Latest fiscal year | CAKE · FY25 | CBRL · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $5.3B | $1.5B |
| Revenue | $3.8B | $3.3B |
| Free cash flow | $155M | $88.4M |
| Net income | $148M | $31.7M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 4.8% | −4.7% |
| 5-year growth | 13.6% | 3.3% |
| Share count change | −0.9% | 0.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | 69.1% |
| Operating margin | 5.0% | −0.4% |
| Net margin | 4.0% | 1.0% |
| FCF margin | 4.1% | 2.7% |
| Return on capital | 20.5% | — |
| Return on equity | 33.7% | 6.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $414M | — |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.4x | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $206M | $23.1M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 29.4x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | — |
Revenue
FY17
CAKE $2.3B
CBRL $2.9B
FY18
CAKE $2.3B
CBRL $3.0B
FY19
CAKE $2.5B
CBRL $3.1B
FY20
CAKE $2.0B
CBRL $2.5B
FY21
CAKE $2.9B
CBRL $2.8B
FY22
CAKE $3.3B
CBRL $3.3B
FY23
CAKE $3.4B
CBRL $3.4B
FY24
CAKE $3.6B
CBRL $3.5B
FY25
CAKE $3.8B
CBRL $3.5B
FY26
CAKE —
CBRL $3.3B
CAKE
CBRL
Operating margin
FY17
CAKE 6.8%
CBRL 10.7%
FY18
CAKE 5.1%
CBRL 9.7%
FY19
CAKE 4.2%
CBRL 9.2%
FY20
CAKE −17.5%
CBRL 4.1%
FY21
CAKE 2.8%
CBRL 13.0%
FY22
CAKE 1.2%
CBRL 4.7%
FY23
CAKE 3.2%
CBRL 3.5%
FY24
CAKE 5.0%
CBRL 1.3%
FY25
CAKE 5.0%
CBRL 1.6%
FY26
CAKE —
CBRL −0.4%
CAKE
CBRL
Free cash flow
FY17
CAKE $118M
CBRL $210M
FY18
CAKE $188M
CBRL $178M
FY19
CAKE $145M
CBRL $225M
FY20
CAKE −$47.4M
CBRL −$136M
FY21
CAKE $146M
CBRL $230M
FY22
CAKE $49.5M
CBRL $107M
FY23
CAKE $66.8M
CBRL $123M
FY24
CAKE $108M
CBRL $40.7M
FY25
CAKE $155M
CBRL $59.8M
FY26
CAKE —
CBRL $88.4M
CAKE
CBRL
Return on capital
FY17
CAKE —
CBRL 27.1%
FY18
CAKE 18.7%
CBRL 31.6%
FY19
CAKE 13.8%
CBRL 25.9%
FY20
CAKE −45.1%
CBRL 8.6%
FY21
CAKE 16.1%
CBRL 33.8%
FY22
CAKE 6.2%
CBRL 16.2%
FY23
CAKE 15.8%
CBRL 13.1%
FY24
CAKE 21.2%
CBRL 5.1%
FY25
CAKE 20.5%
CBRL 6.1%
FY26
CAKE —
CBRL —
CAKE
CBRL
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.