profit from every $100 of sales.
$0$100
El Pollo Loco Holdings
$15.19-1.81% today
+41.7% in 1 year
1-year low $10.071-year high $17.20
Trading in the middle of its range for the past year.
The essentials
Four questions every investor asks, answered in one line each.
more sales each year, on average, 2022 to 2025.
0%20% a year
You pay $17.33 for every $1 of profit it makes in a year.
CheapExpensive
of earnings would pay off all its debt.
No debt5 years
Money in, money out
What El Pollo Loco Holdings sold, what it kept, and what it did with the cash.
Sales went from $470 million in 2022 to $490 million in 2025, with $26.5 million of profit last year.
SalesProfit
El Pollo Loco Holdings handed back 7% of the cash it generated last year.
Buybacks $2M
Free cash flow 2025$25M
Bought back its own shares$2M
Paid as dividends–
Cash vs. debt$6M vs. $241M
El Pollo Loco Holdings vs. similar companies
El Pollo Loco Holdings grows the slowest of these 5 and is the cheapest for its profits.
| Company | Profit from $100 of sales | Sales growth a year | Price per $1 of profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Pollo Loco Holdings | 17.3× · Fair price | ||
 McDonald's | 22.6× · Fair price | ||
 Starbucks | 67.5× · Very expensive | ||
 Compass Group | 30.6× · Expensive | ||
 Chipotle Mexican Grill | 30.2× · Expensive |
AI analysis
An AI analyst reads El Pollo Loco Holdings's last five years, its segments, earnings, insiders and peers, and writes the bull case, the bear case and what the price expects.
Run the AI analysisFull statementsIncome, balance sheet and cash flow, year by year
Income statement
| In millions of USD | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 470 | 469 | 473 | 490 | |
| 84 | 94 | 104 | 109 | |
| 30 | 36 | 42 | 42 | |
| 45 | 55 | 57 | 58 | |
| 21 | 26 | 26 | 26 | |
| 0.57 | 0.74 | 0.86 | 0.90 | |
| 17.8% | 20.0% | 21.9% | 22.2% | |
| 6.4% | 7.8% | 8.8% | 8.6% | |
| 4.4% | 5.5% | 5.4% | 5.4% |
Balance sheet
| In millions of USD | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total assets | 597 | 592 | 592 | 607 |
| Cash | 20 | 7 | 2 | 6 |
| Total debt | 253 | 273 | 263 | 241 |
| Total liabilities | 316 | 342 | 331 | 316 |
| 281 | 251 | 261 | 291 | |
| 37 | 34 | 30 | 29 | |
| 4.5% | 6.0% | 6.2% | 6.2% | |
| 7.4% | 10.2% | 9.9% | 9.1% |
Cash flow
| In millions of USD | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | 41 | 47 | 48 | |
| 20 | 21 | 19 | 23 | |
| 19 | 19 | 28 | 25 | |
| Dividends paid | 56 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 0 | 59 | 21 | 2 | |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Valuation
- 17.3×
- 15.7×
- 1.05
- 1.4×
- 0.9×
- 18.0×
- 12.0×
- 5.5%
- 5.8%
- 0.0%
Profitability
- 22.2%
- 8.6%
- 5.4%
- 12.4%
- 6.0%
- 4.8%
- 10.1%
- 4.8%
- 8.7%
- –
Growth
- +1.4%
- +16.4%
- −8.2%
- –
- −5.0%
Financial health
- 3.7×
- 0.77
- 38.2%
- 11.5×
- 0.34
- 0.32
- 0.82
How it ranks in Consumer Discretionary
Each dot is where the company stands among every company over $300M in the sector. Further right is better.
Bottom 37%of 978
Top 48%of 992
Top 44%of 854
Bottom 22%of 993
Top 45%of 979
What analysts expect
- Average price target
- $12.25
- Range
- $11.00 – $13.50
- 1 analysts
These targets were collected on May 20, 2026 and our analyst feed has not updated since, so we no longer compare them with today's price.
Recent earnings
Our results feed has not updated since May 21, 2026. Results reported after that are not in this table yet.
| Date | EPS | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 2026 | 0.28 | 0.22 | +27.3% |
| Mar 12, 2026 | 0.25 | 0.21 | +19.0% |
| Oct 30, 2025 | 0.27 | 0.23 | +17.4% |
| Jul 31, 2025 | 0.28 | 0.25 | +12.0% |
| May 1, 2025 | 0.19 | 0.20 | −5.0% |
| Mar 6, 2025 | 0.20 | 0.14 | +42.9% |
| Oct 31, 2024 | 0.21 | 0.17 | +23.5% |
| Aug 1, 2024 | 0.26 | 0.21 | +23.8% |
News
El Pollo Loco to open first New York restaurant as it aims to become national chicken chainCNBC · Sep 29, 2026Insider trades
Our insider feed has not updated since May 26, 2026. Trades filed after that are not listed yet.
No insider trades on file.
The seven classic investing rulebooks
1/7Passes 1 of 7. Each bar is how well the company fits that investor's published rules, from 0 to 100; 60 or more counts as a pass.
Warren Buffett
44No pass
Benjamin Graham
63Pass
Philip Fisher
48No pass
Peter Lynch
56No pass
Joel Greenblatt
30No pass
Charlie Munger
32No pass
Terry Smith
29No pass
Questions about El Pollo Loco Holdings
Is El Pollo Loco Holdings a good stock to buy?
A business with weak numbers at a fair price. 1 of the 7 famous investors' published rulebooks we apply pass it. Whether it suits you depends on your goals and the price you pay; invest-like never tells anyone to buy or sell. The AI analysis lays out the case for and against. Read the El Pollo Loco Holdings AI analysis
What does El Pollo Loco Holdings do?
El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiary, El Pollo Loco, Inc., develops, franchises, licenses, and operates quick-service restaurants under the El Pollo Loco name. It is in Restaurants.
Does El Pollo Loco Holdings pay a dividend?
No. El Pollo Loco Holdings does not pay a dividend at the moment; in 2025 it returned $1.84 million to shareholders by buying back its own shares.
Is El Pollo Loco Holdings stock halal?
No. El Pollo Loco Holdings does not pass our halal screen: its debt is 53% of its market value, at or above the 33% limit. How we check
How has El Pollo Loco Holdings stock done over the past year?
Up 41.7% over the past twelve months, to $15.19. It traded between $10.07 and $17.20 and is 11.7% below its high.
Who are El Pollo Loco Holdings's competitors?
The largest listed companies in the same industry are McDonald's, Starbucks, Compass Group and Chipotle Mexican Grill. The peers table on this page compares their profit, growth and price with El Pollo Loco Holdings's.
Prices: daily closes to Nov 11, 2026. Fundamentals: company reports via invest-like data.