The Cheesecake Factory is up 118% YTD, outperforming many AI and tech stocks. Why?

Revenue growth accelerated from 4% to 7% after the company updated its app and offered a free slice of cheesecake. At one point, the app reached the top three in the App Store, alongside major AI apps.

Traffic increased materially, while quarterly revenue exceeded $1 billion for the first time.

The stock entered the year at 13x earnings, while comparable sales proved significantly stronger than those of its restaurant peers. Its P/E has since surged to 32x.

At this point, the the Cheesecake Factory looks more like a momentum trade than a genuine long-term compounder. Valuing a restaurant business at 21x earnings three years out seems difficult to justify.
$CAKE