The Securities and Exchange Commission said it had settled charges against Cheesecake Factory Inc. for misleading investors about how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the restaurant chain.
The SEC said Friday that the company in the spring filed materially false and misleading disclosures in saying that locations were “operating sustainably.” Meanwhile, the company was losing about $6 million in cash weekly and estimated it had only about four months’ worth of cash left, according to the agency.
Cheesecake Factory didn’t admit to the SEC’s findings but agreed to a penalty of $125,000, the regulator said. The company said in a filing that it fully cooperated with the SEC.
The SEC also said the company didn’t disclose that it had told landlords it wouldn’t pay rent in April because of the pandemic’s impact.
Cheesecake Factory said in a filing last month that while it paid a substantial majority of rent through September, some of its landlords have alleged that the company is in default on its leases.
