Cheesecake Memo
Memorandum
To: Mr. David Overton, Chief Executive Officer
CC: Board of Directors
From: Junior Analyst
Date: February 6, 2013
Re: How Cheesecake Takes The Cake
Through my comparative analysis using the five key financial indices of The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, CAKE seems to be in fact “taking the cake”. Not only the past three years of our financial statements show steady growth and great financial strength, but when you compare our financials to P.F. Chang’s we appear especially favorable. I will address in detail each of the five indices I used to determine my conclusion on how The Cheesecake factory has been performing in today’s market, and how this information can be useful moving forward. I will also clearly outline why I selected P.F. Chang’s as the best Benchmark Company for our comparison.
P.F. Chang’s The Perfect Fit For The Perfect Comparison
Prior to making my decision as to which competitor I would use to produce the most reliable comparative analysis, I innovatively researched what characteristics the market associated and viewed to be the most significantly related to The Cheesecake Factory. P.F. Chang’s was the obvious choice based on the following similarities:
• Both are considered “full service, upscale, casual dining restaurants”
• Both have a similar number of operating restaurants; there are 170 Cheesecake locations and 204 P.F. Chang‘s locations countrywide
• Both restaurants have comparably priced menu items
• Both restaurants offer a unique dining atmosphere and experience
• Both restaurants became incorporated in the 1990’s
• Neither restaurant is domestically franchised (About Us, CF, 20132), (About Us, PF, 20132),
Comparative Financial Analysis Leaves P.F. Chang’s Picking Up The Crumbs
The Cheesecake factory not only took the cake, but we most certainly ran with it leaving P.F Chang’s with no opportunity to catch up. The Cheesecake factory showed significant increases in
To: Mr. David Overton, Chief Executive Officer
CC: Board of Directors
From: Junior Analyst
Date: February 6, 2013
Re: How Cheesecake Takes The Cake
Through my comparative analysis using the five key financial indices of The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, CAKE seems to be in fact “taking the cake”. Not only the past three years of our financial statements show steady growth and great financial strength, but when you compare our financials to P.F. Chang’s we appear especially favorable. I will address in detail each of the five indices I used to determine my conclusion on how The Cheesecake factory has been performing in today’s market, and how this information can be useful moving forward. I will also clearly outline why I selected P.F. Chang’s as the best Benchmark Company for our comparison.
P.F. Chang’s The Perfect Fit For The Perfect Comparison
Prior to making my decision as to which competitor I would use to produce the most reliable comparative analysis, I innovatively researched what characteristics the market associated and viewed to be the most significantly related to The Cheesecake Factory. P.F. Chang’s was the obvious choice based on the following similarities:
• Both are considered “full service, upscale, casual dining restaurants”
• Both have a similar number of operating restaurants; there are 170 Cheesecake locations and 204 P.F. Chang‘s locations countrywide
• Both restaurants have comparably priced menu items
• Both restaurants offer a unique dining atmosphere and experience
• Both restaurants became incorporated in the 1990’s
• Neither restaurant is domestically franchised (About Us, CF, 20132), (About Us, PF, 20132),
Comparative Financial Analysis Leaves P.F. Chang’s Picking Up The Crumbs
The Cheesecake factory not only took the cake, but we most certainly ran with it leaving P.F Chang’s with no opportunity to catch up. The Cheesecake factory showed significant increases in