LOCO
El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.
LOCO's fundamentals are strong: free cash flow grew 47% and earnings per share grew 29%. At 13x earnings, it's trading below its usual 15x. Analysts expect earnings growth.
LOCO Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Strong |
LOCO's profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its revenue is stable.
LOCO PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 12x | $14.02 | -5.3% |
| Current | 13x | $14.80 | — |
| Forward | 14x | $14.80 | — |
| Fair | 15x | $17.10 | +16% |
| Expensive | 22x | $25.82 | +74% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
LOCO's PE is in its cheap range at 13x. On analysts' estimates for next year's earnings, today's price would be 14x, in its fair range.
LOCO Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Deteriorating | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect LOCO's earnings to grow, with its revenue and profitability holding steady.
LOCO Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.03 | -10% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.15 | +29% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.17 | +38% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.98 | +14% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.90 | +4.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.89 | +14% |
| Q2 2025 | $0.85 | 0% |
| Q1 2025 | $0.86 | +7.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $0.86 | +16% |
LOCO earned $1.15 per share over the past year, up 29% from the year before.
LOCO Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $126.3M | +3.9% |
| Q2 2026 | $129.6M | +3% |
| Q1 2026 | $126.2M | +5.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $123.5M | +8.1% |
| Q3 2025 | $121.5M | +0.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $125.8M | +3% |
| Q1 2025 | $119.2M | +2.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $114.3M | +1.8% |
LOCO's revenue has grown year over year for eight quarters in a row: $126M last quarter, up 3.9% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 8.1% | -1.4 points |
| Q2 2026 | 14% | +5.4 points |
| Q1 2026 | 9.7% | +2.1 points |
| Q4 2025 | 8.3% | +0.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 9.4% | +1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 9% | -1.1 points |
| Q1 2025 | 7.5% | -0.8 points |
| Q4 2024 | 7.9% | +1.3 points |
LOCO's operating margin was 8.1% last quarter, down 1.4 points from the same quarter a year ago.
LOCO Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $506K | -95% |
| Q2 2026 | $23.3M | +156% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.8M | +105% |
| Q4 2025 | $5.1M | +349% |
| Q3 2025 | $9.9M | +8.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $9.1M | -13% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.3M | -81% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.1M | -47% |
LOCO still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2026 peak: $32M over the past year.
LOCO Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.4% | +116K shares |
| 1 year | +2.7% | +802K shares |
| 3 years | -9.8% | -3.3M shares |
| 5 years | -17% | -6.3M shares |
| Available history | -14% | -5M shares |
LOCO has 30M diluted shares, up 2.7% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | $1,000 |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | $68,000 |
| Q1 2025 | $1.8M |
| Q4 2024 | $1.3M |
| Q3 2024 | $1.1M |
| Q2 2024 | $17M |
| Q1 2024 | $1.2M |
LOCO Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.2x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.9x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 1.1x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 1.2x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.2x | Healthy |
LOCO's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA).
LOCO Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 50.1 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 34.4 | Neutral |
LOCO's weekly RSI is 50 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 34 (neutral).
LOCO PE vs Consumer Cyclical Sector
| Metric | LOCO | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 13x | 18x | 29% below |
| PE % | 26 | 47 | 21 pts below |
LOCO is trading at 13x earnings, a 29% discount to the Consumer Cyclical sector's median of 18x.
LOCO Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $14.9 | 0.7% below |
| 20 week MA | $15.4 | 4% below |
| 50 week MA | $13.8 | 7.4% above |
| 100 week MA | $12.1 | 22% above |
| 200 week MA | $11.3 | 32% above |
LOCO has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8- and 20-week averages, but 32% above its 200-week average.
LOCO Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $14.9 | $18.4 | +24% |
| 2021 | $18.4 | $14.5 | -21% |
| 2022 | $14.5 | $10.3 | -29% |
| 2023 | $10.3 | $8.82 | -14% |
| 2024 | $8.82 | $11.6 | +31% |
| 2025 | $11.6 | $10.9 | -6.2% |
| 2026 YTD | $10.9 | $14.8 | +36% |
LOCO is up 36% so far in 2026, after finishing lower in four of the previous six years.