UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): ~~February~~March 1226, 2026

THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY INCORPORATED

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware	0-20574	51-0340466
(State or other jurisdiction	(Commission	(IRS Employer
of incorporation)	File Number)	Identification No.)

26901 Malibu Hills Road Calabasas Hills, California		91301
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (818) 871-3000

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class:		Trading Symbol(s)		Name of each exchange on which registered:
Common Stock, par value $.01 per share		CAKE		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ¨

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

~~The~~ITEM ~~following information under Item 2~~1.~~02 of Form 8-K, “Results of Operations and Financial Condition” and Item 7.~~01 ofENTRY ~~Form 8-K,~~INTO ~~“Regulation~~A FDMATERIAL ~~Disclosure” is~~DEFINITIVE ~~intended to be furnished~~AGREEMENT. This information shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, whether made before or after the date of this report, regardless of any general incorporation language in the filing.

~~ITEM~~On 2March 26, 2026 (the “Effective Date”), The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (the “Company” or “we,” “us” and “our”) entered into a Fifth Amended and Restated Loan Agreement, dated as of March 26, 2026 (the “Loan Agreement” and the credit facility provided thereunder, the “New Facility”), with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.02A., ~~RESULTS~~as OFadministrative ~~OPERATIONS~~agent, ~~AND~~Bank ~~FINANCIAL~~of ~~CONDITION~~America, N.A., Wells Fargo Bank, National Association and BMO Bank N.A., as co-syndication agents, and the lenders party thereto from time to time. The Loan Agreement amended and restated the Company’s existing Fourth Amended and Restated Loan Agreement, dated as of October 6, 2022.

InThe aNew ~~press~~Facility, ~~release~~which ~~dated~~matures ~~February 18~~on March 26, ~~2026~~2031, provides us with a ~~copy~~$400 ofmillion ~~which~~revolving iscredit ~~furnished~~facility, aswith ~~Exhibit 99.1~~a sublimit of up to ~~this~~$85 ~~report,~~million for the issuance of letters of credit and $10 million for swingline loans. The ~~Cheesecake~~New ~~Factory~~Facility ~~Incorporated~~contains (~~the “Company”~~i) ~~reported~~a commitment increase feature that, subject to certain conditions precedent, ~~financial~~could ~~results~~provide for an additional $200 million in revolving loan commitments and (ii) a feature that permits the ~~fourth~~letter ~~quarter~~of credit issuers thereunder to increase their letter of ~~fiscal~~credit ~~2025,~~sublimits ~~which~~by ~~ended~~$25 onmillion ~~December 30,~~in ~~2025~~the aggregate.

~~ITEM~~Borrowings 7under the Loan Agreement bear interest, at the Company’s option, at a per annum rate equal to either: (i) (A) the forward-looking term rate based on SOFR that is published by CME Group Benchmark Administration Limited (the “Term SOFR Rate”) plus (B) an applicable margin based on the Net Adjusted Leverage Ratio, ranging from 1.0100% ~~REGULATION~~to FD1.50%, ~~DISCLOSURE~~or (ii) the sum of (A) the highest of (x) the rate of interest last quoted by The Wall Street Journal as the prime rate in effect in the United States, (y) the greater of the rate calculated by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as the federal funds effective rate or the rate that is published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as the overnight bank funding rate, in either case, plus 0.50%, and (z) the one-month Term SOFR Rate plus 1.00%, plus (B) an applicable margin based on the Net Adjusted Leverage Ratio (defined below), ranging from 0.00% to 0.50%. The Company will also pay a variable fee based on the Net Adjusted Leverage Ratio, ranging from 0.125% to 0.225%, on the daily amount of unused commitments under the Loan Agreement.

~~Also~~Under onthe ~~February 18,~~New ~~2026~~Facility, we are subject to the ~~Company~~following ~~posted~~financial covenants, anwhich ~~updated~~are ~~Investor~~tested ~~Presentation~~as onof the ~~Company’s~~last ~~Investor~~day ~~Relations~~of ~~website~~each atfiscal ~~investors.thecheesecakefactory.com.~~quarter: A(i) ~~copy~~a maximum ratio of net adjusted debt to EBITDAR (the “Net Adjusted ~~presentation~~Leverage isRatio”) ~~furnished~~of as4.25 ~~Exhibit 99~~to 1.200 ~~hereto~~and (ii) a minimum ratio of EBITDAR to interest and isrent ~~incorporated~~expense byof ~~reference~~1.90 ~~herein~~to 1.00.

~~ITEM~~The 8Loan Agreement contains a number of covenants and restrictions that, among other things, restrict the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ ability to incur additional debt, pay dividends and make distributions, make certain investments and acquisitions, create liens, enter into agreements with affiliates, sell material assets, and merge or consolidate.01 ~~OTHER~~Non-compliance ~~EVENTS~~with one or more of the covenants and restrictions could result in acceleration of the maturity of the New Facility and any loans drawn under the New Facility becoming immediately due and payable.

OnOur ~~February 12,~~obligations ~~2026,~~under the ~~Board~~New ofFacility ~~Directors~~are unsecured. ofCertain ~~the Company (the “Board”) declared a quarterly cash dividend~~ of ~~$0.30~~our ~~per~~material ~~share~~subsidiaries ~~which~~have ~~will~~guaranteed beour ~~paid~~obligations onunder ~~March 17, 2026 to~~ the ~~stockholders~~New ofFacility ~~record~~on ofan ~~each~~unsecured ~~share~~basis. ofThe ~~the~~New ~~Company’s~~Facility ~~common~~will be ~~stock~~used atfor ~~the~~our ~~close~~general ofcorporate ~~business on March 4~~purposes, ~~2026.~~including ~~Future decisions~~ to ~~pay~~fund ~~or to increase or decrease~~ dividends, ~~are~~stock atrepurchases ~~the discretion of the Board~~ and ~~will~~permitted ~~depend upon operating performance and other factors~~acquisitions.

~~Also~~The onabove ~~February 12,~~description ~~2026,~~of the ~~Board~~Loan ~~approved~~Agreement is ana ~~increase~~summary ofand 5is not complete.0 ~~million~~A ~~shares~~copy toof the ~~existing~~Loan ~~repurchase~~Agreement ~~program~~will ~~raising~~be ~~the~~filed ~~total~~as ~~authorization~~an exhibit to ~~66.0~~our ~~million~~Quarterly ~~shares,~~Report ofon ~~which~~Form 10-Q for the period ~~approximately~~ending ~~6.0~~March ~~million~~31, ~~shares~~2026, ~~remain~~and ~~available~~the ~~for~~above ~~repurchase~~summary ~~following~~is qualified by reference to the ~~increase~~terms set forth in such exhibit.

~~The~~ITEM ~~share repurchase program does not have an expiration date, does not require the Company to purchase a specific number of shares and may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time~~2.03 ~~The~~CREATION ~~timing~~OF ~~and~~A ~~total~~DIRECT ~~amount~~FINANCIAL ofOBLIGATION ~~share~~OR ~~repurchases~~AN ~~will~~OBLIGATION ~~depend~~UNDER ~~upon~~AN ~~market~~OFF-BALANCE ~~conditions~~SHEET ~~and~~ARRANGEMENT ~~other~~OF ~~factors~~A ~~and may be made from time to time in open market purchases, privately negotiated transactions, accelerated share repurchase programs, issuer self-tender offers or otherwise~~REGISTRANT.

~~ITEM~~The 9description set forth under Item 1.01 ~~FINANCIAL~~of ~~STATEMENTS~~this Form ~~AND~~8-K ~~EXHIBITS~~is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

(d) Exhibits

	99.1	Press release dated February 18, 2026 entitled “The Cheesecake Factory Reports Results for Fourth Quarter of Fiscal 2025”
	99.2	The Cheesecake Factory Investor Presentation dated February 18, 2026
	104.1	Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the inline XBRL document)

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

Date: February 18, 2026	THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY INCORPORATED
Date: March 31, 2026	THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY INCORPORATED
	By:	/s/ Matthew E. Clark
		Matthew E. Clark
		Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

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