Cheesecake Factory Posts 15% Sales Gain as Q3 Splits the Industry

Cheesecake Factory recorded a 15% sales increase in the third quarter, its best-ever result for the period, and then spent the following days at the center of an unexpected political controversy.

Former President Obama compared the chain unfavorably to changes President Trump has made to the White House, putting the casual-dining brand in headlines it did not court. On Nation's Restaurant News' Extra Serving podcast, editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso argued the chain sits in a strong position regardless of how the controversy shakes out — the record quarter gives it an economic cushion that the political noise cannot touch.

The bigger story is the quarter itself. Cheesecake Factory's 15% sales gain landed amid a chain-restaurant market that, according to the Technomic Top 500, slowed again in 2025 as consumers pulled back on dining. Growth concentrated in a handful of categories: coffee, beverages and snacks, and chicken.

Which chains won and lost the third quarter?

Last week's earnings reports split the industry into three tiers:

• Soared: Chili's, Burger King and Starbucks
• Did OK: Chipotle and Jersey Mike's
• Struggled: Popeyes and Wingstop

Oches and Kelso broke down what each result signals for the individual companies and for the industry at large. The spread matters beyond bragging rights — it shows which operators have aligned pricing and menu strategy with a consumer who is dining out less, and which are still absorbing the impact of that pullback.

What does this change for operators? It sharpens the divide between concepts riding the coffee-and-chicken demand shift and those competing in softer categories without a clear traffic driver.

Who is trying to buy Wendy's?

Two Wendy's shareholders — former chairman Nelson Peltz and franchisee Greg Flynn — have made an offer to acquire the company for $1.4 billion. The bid puts control of a heavily franchised burger chain in the hands of an investor-operator pairing, a structure that would carry implications for franchisees across the system.

Why does the DoorDash-Instacart deal worry restaurants?

DoorDash acquired Instacart for $17 billion. The deal extends a run of consolidation among third-party delivery players: DoorDash previously acquired ezCater and invested in Wonder.

Oches and Kelso flagged the acquisition as potentially bad news for restaurant operators. As third-party platforms consolidate and add grocery capacity through Instacart, restaurants face a larger intermediary with more leverage over fees, data and the customer relationship.

The trend line is clear: fewer, bigger delivery platforms mean less negotiating room for the restaurants that depend on them.

What else moved this week?

The podcast's Quick Fire round covered three additional headlines:

• McDonald's ended its relationship with FIFA
• Dine Brands adopted a poison pill, a defensive move against unwanted takeover approaches
• Bojangles opened a full-service bar

Taken together, the week's news traces an industry sorting itself into winners and consolidators. With the Technomic Top 500 showing another year of slowing chain sales, the chains that reported strong third quarters enter 2026 with the pricing power and traffic momentum their competitors now lack.