Cheesecake Factory Inc. expects to restate past earnings, based on preliminary findings of an internal probe into past stock options practices, the company said in an SEC filing on Tuesday.

The Calabasas-based restaurant operator said the review into historical stock options practices also caused it to miss its second-quarter filing deadline on Monday. The SEC is currently conducting an informal inquiry into the company’s stock option practices.

Preliminary results of the company’s probe suggest “the range of potential adjustments would likely be material to the current year and possibly prior years, resulting in a restatement,” Cheesecake Factory disclosed.

The stock option grants affected were largely issued before June 30, 2002. The Cheesecake Factory joins a growing list of a dozen or so Southland businesses, mainly technology companies, either being investigated by the SEC or doing their own investigation into stock options.

Shares of Cheesecake Factory sank about 50 cents, or 2 percent, to $23.26 in after-hours electronic trading. The stock had closed the regular Nasdaq session up 65 cents, or 2.8 percent, at $23.78.