** charts after earnings **
Cheesecake Factory Inc.'s third-quarter earnings rose 8% as the company's namesake chain posted its 23rd consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales.
However, total revenue was slightly below Wall Street estimates.
The company's shares fell 5.7% to $49.02 in after-hours trading.
Cheesecake Factory has previously noted its higher labor costs this year. In the third quarter, favorable patterns in dairy and seafood costs helped its results, Chief Financial Officer Doug Benn said in a conference call.
Comparable-restaurant sales rose 2.2% at the Cheesecake Factory. In addition to 182 Cheesecake Factory locations, the company operates 12 Grand Lux Cafes and one RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen restaurant.
Cheesecake Factory's locations are typically at high-end malls that haven't suffered falling traffic.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the company earned $26.2 million, or 52 cents a share, compared with $24.2 million, or 48 cents a share, a year earlier. Earnings excluding items were 59 cents a share. Revenue rose 5.5% to $526.7 million.
The company had projected earnings of 53 cents to 56 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected revenue of $535 million.
For the fourth quarter, Cheesecake Factory expects earnings of 50 cents to 53 cents a share, while analysts project 54 cents. The company, which projects comparable sales growth of 1% to 2% at Cheesecake Factory for the period, said the timing of Halloween and Christmas will hurt results.
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