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El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. had return on equity of 9.6% and a net margin of 5.4%. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Dec 20142015Dec 20152016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMJul 2026
Net margin−2.7%−5.4%12.3%6.8%4.8%2.1%−2.1%5.6%5.7%6.4%4.4%5.5%5.4%5.4%7.0%
Return on equity−12.2%−29.8%32.8%10.6%7.2%3.2%−3.3%9.7%9.4%9.9%7.0%9.6%10.0%9.6%11.5%
Return on assets—−4.0%9.7%5.3%3.9%1.9%−2.0%4.6%4.0%4.8%3.4%4.3%4.3%4.4%5.7%
Effective tax rate———46.4%41.1%5.5%—28.0%18.8%26.2%28.0%26.7%27.2%29.5%29.1%
Dividends ÷ net income——————————267.2%————

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

4 of 7 checks passed · July 1, 2026
What it owns · $619m
Short-term assets $34mLonger-term assets $585m
What it owes, and who funded it · $619m
Short-term liabilities $85mLonger-term liabilities $217mShareholders' equity $317m
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $34m of assets due within a year against $85m of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities $34m short-term assets against $217m of longer-dated liabilities.
  • More cash than debt $13m of cash against $30m of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 9% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 13% to 9% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $74m of operating cash flow against $30m of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Operating income of $53m against $4m of interest.

From El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.'s latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

47 /100

Moderate moat

How hard El Pollo Loco Holdings's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 4 / 20

    Net income has been a median 4.0% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Durability 1 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 8.1%; its worst year was -0.8%.

  • Cash conversion 12 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 4.8% of revenue.

  • Discipline 20 / 20

    The diluted share count fell 18.2% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.7% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: LOCO vs NDLSBH.A vs LOCOLOCO vs SG

More: Restaurants stocks compared, Consumer Discretionary sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.'s SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 29, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc.