Downgrades took a toll on shares of Cheesecake Factory Inc. Thursday, sending them plummeting nearly 8 percent.

The Calabasas-based restaurant chain owner and operator dipped after Bear Stearns & Co. and CIBC World Markets Inc. downgraded the stock, citing softness in the casual dinning sector.

Bear Stearns lowered its rating to “peer perform” from “out perform” while CIBC dropped its rating to “sector perform'” from “sector outperform” and lowered its price target to $27 from $35.

The fall comes less than two weeks after shares soared more than 10 percent in the wake of an analyst upgrade. The company had reported a 5 percent dip in profit along with a 15 percent rise in sales.

Shares in Cheesecake Factory fell $1.93, or 7.3 percent, to $24.81 in afternoon trading Thursday on the Nasdaq.