THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY INCORPORATED vs SHAKE SHACK INC., two Restaurants stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Cheesecake Factory offers cash and dividends where Shake Shack offers growth. The casual-dining chain earns a 4.34% net margin, returns a strong 35.94% on equity, generates a 4.43% free cash flow yield, and pays 1.34%. Shake Shack, the better-burger operator still expanding, keeps just 2.76% of revenue, returns 7.43% on equity, and yields a thin 0.69% of cash. Investors pay 58.1 times earnings for Shake Shack against 23.55 times for Cheesecake. Both carry moderate leverage, 1.37 for Cheesecake and 0.45 for Shake Shack. Cheesecake at $3.9B and Shake Shack at $2.3B are similarly sized, but priced on opposite theories of growth.
Comparison updated 2026-07-11.
| Metric | CAKE | SHAK |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $82.74 | $58.61 |
| Market cap | $4.0B | $2.4B |
| Sector | Restaurants | Restaurants |
| Stage | Mature | Growth |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +12.0% | — |
| P/E | 24.3 | 59.8 |
| P/B | 8.73 | 4.26 |
| P/S | 1.05 | 1.58 |
| EV/EBITDA | 14.6 | 13.8 |
| Revenue growth | +5.1% | +16.2% |
| Operating margin | 5.6% | -0.7% |
| Net margin | 4.3% | 2.8% |
| Return on equity | 35.9% | 7.4% |
| Return on assets | 5.0% | 2.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 16.2% | 5.6% |
| FCF yield | 4.3% | 0.7% |
| Dividend yield | 1.3% | — |
| Debt / equity | 1.37 | 0.45 |
| Current ratio | 0.59 | 1.69 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 2.56 | 1.97 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 8 / 9 | 6 / 9 |
Each week boothcheck ranks the stocks whose prices are betting on the most. Read the most stretched bets archive →
boothcheck is also on Android. Get the app on Google Play →
The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.