El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO) reported $126.31 million in revenue for the quarter ended September 2026, representing a year-over-year increase of 3.9%. EPS of $0.24 for the same period compares to $0.27 a year ago.
The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $126.8 million, representing a surprise of -0.39%. The company has not delivered EPS surprise, with the consensus EPS estimate being $0.24.
While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.
As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately.
Here is how El Pollo Loco performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:
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Revenue- Franchise advertising fee revenue: $8.45 million compared to the $8.75 million average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of +6.5% year over year.
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Revenue- Franchise revenue: $12.48 million versus $12.5 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -3% change.
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Revenue- Company-operated restaurant revenue: $105.38 million versus $105.85 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +4.6% change.
View all Key Company Metrics for El Pollo Loco here>>>
Shares of El Pollo Loco have returned +12.6% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -0.4% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.
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El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (LOCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
