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El Pollo Loco (LOCO) Q1 Earnings: Taking a Look at Key Metrics Versus Estimates

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El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO - Free Report) reported $119.18 million in revenue for the quarter ended March 2025, representing a year-over-year increase of 2.6%. EPS of $0.19 for the same period compares to $0.22 a year ago.

The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $118.46 million, representing a surprise of +0.61%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of -5.00%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $0.20.

While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

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:

  • Stores at the End of Period - Franchise restaurants: 325 versus 326 estimated by three analysts on average.
  • Stores at the End of Period - Company-owned Restaurants: 174 versus the three-analyst average estimate of 173.
  • Comparable restaurant sales - System-wide: -0.6% versus 0.4% estimated by three analysts on average.
  • Stores at the End of Period - Total Restaurants: 499 versus 499 estimated by three analysts on average.
  • Comparable restaurant sales - Company-owned Restaurants: 4.6% compared to the 2.3% average estimate based on two analysts.
  • Revenue- Franchise advertising fee revenue: $7.63 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $7.69 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -0.3%.
  • Revenue- Franchise revenue: $13.18 million versus $11.46 million estimated by three analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +16.2% change.
  • Revenue- Company-operated restaurant revenue: $98.37 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $99.31 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +1.3%.
View all Key Company Metrics for El Pollo Loco here>>>

Shares of El Pollo Loco have returned -10.3% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -0.7% 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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