Cheesecake Factory reports record quarter amid Obama-Trump dispute over White House decor
The restaurant chain reported $1.03 billion in quarterly revenue, but its fiscal quarter ended before Barack Obama’s remark brought it into a political dispute.
The Cheesecake Factory reported record third-quarter revenue of $1.03 billion on October 27, 2026, as its name became part of a dispute over White House decor in the United States. The results cover a fiscal quarter that ended September 29, before former President Barack Obama compared President Donald Trump’s White House to the restaurant chain, so they cannot show a sales effect from the ensuing attention.
What the Cheesecake Factory’s third-quarter results show
Revenue rose 14% from $907.2 million a year earlier, Fortune reported. Comparable sales at Cheesecake Factory restaurants increased 15.2%, while adjusted earnings of $1.02 a share exceeded Wall Street forecasts. Business Insider separately reported revenue of $1.03 billion and comparable restaurant sales growth of more than 15%.
The company opened six restaurants during the quarter and still expected to open as many as 26 during the year, according to Fortune. Those figures put the sales increase alongside the chain’s expansion plans, though the comparable-sales measure concerns restaurants already operating in comparable periods.
Business Insider reported that Chief Executive David Overton credited new menu items, the company’s rewards program and social media engagement for sales growth. It quoted him saying the chain’s ability to attract younger guests reinforced the appeal of its namesake restaurants. Those were the company’s explanations; the reported results do not measure the separate contribution of each factor.
Why the White House exchange came after the sales period
Obama invoked the chain while mocking Trump’s White House decor at a Saturday campaign rally in Cleveland, Business Insider reported. Trump responded to the comparison, as NewsJaws covered in its earlier report. The earnings announcement is a later development, but the fiscal quarter had closed weeks before Obama spoke.
The political exchange drew responses from Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who defended the chain after Obama’s remark, according to CNBC and Fortune. That attention provides the setting for the earnings news, but it arrived too late to affect the quarter’s reported revenue or comparable sales. Any effect on later business would have to be assessed against results from a later period.
Executives did not address the dispute on the earnings call, Business Insider reported. The chain had not commented publicly on Obama’s remark, and Fortune said it did not receive a response to its request for comment. The company’s reported operating performance and the political argument therefore remain separate parts of this week’s news.
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Sources and context
- Obama mocked Trump’s gold White House as a Cheesecake Factory. The chain just posted a record quarterFortune
- Cherry on top: Cheesecake Factory dishes out earnings win from the center of the Obama-Trump controversyBusiness Insider
- Trump says White House needed repainting and repairs, blasts Obama over upkeepThe National Desk
- Bessent dines at Cheesecake Factory, slams Obama over Trump jokeCNBC
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.