Cheesecake Factory Profit Beats Wall Street Expectations; Sales In Line

The Cheesecake Factory Inc. late Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $28.4 million, or 56 cents a share, compared with 43 cents a share a year ago. Revenue hit $518 million in quarter, compared with $481.4 million a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected the restaurant-chain operator to report earnings of 48 cents a share on sales of $520 million. Comparable-restaurant sales rose 4.2% in quarter, The Cheesecake Factory said. Shares of the company rose 3.8% in after-hours trading.