El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO) Q3 FY2026 earnings: revenue $126 million, up 3.9% on the year
El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (LOCO) reported revenue of $126 million for Q3 FY2026, the quarter ended 30 September 2026, up 3.9% on the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was $7 million, down 6.5% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $0.23. The figures are the company's own, from the 10-Q it filed with the SEC on 6 November 2026.
this quarterthe same quarter a year earlierHover a bar for its figure.
Income statement (profit and loss)
| $ million | Q3 FY2026 | Q2 FY2026 | Q3 FY2025 | On the quarter | On the year | Last 8 quarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 126 | 130 | 122 | -2.5% | +3.9% | |
| Operating income | 10.2 | 18.7 | 11.5 | -45.6% | -11.2% | |
| Operating margin | 8.1% | 14.4% | 9.4% | |||
| Interest expense | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.1 | -23.9% | -52.1% | |
| Pre-tax income | 9.6 | 18.0 | 10.3 | -46.4% | -6.8% | |
| Income tax | 2.8 | 5.2 | 3.0 | -46.7% | -7.5% | |
| Effective tax rate | 28.6% | 28.8% | 28.8% | |||
| Net income | 6.9 | 12.8 | 7.4 | -46.3% | -6.5% | |
| Net margin | 5.4% | 9.9% | 6.1% | |||
| Diluted EPS | $0.23 | $0.43 | $0.25 | -46.5% | -8.0% |
$ million except per share.
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Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Those four are arithmetic on the filed numbers; everything else is as filed. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and share counts are as they are.Cash flow
| $ million | Q3 FY2026 | Q2 FY2026 | Q3 FY2025 | On the quarter | On the year | Last 8 quarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | 7.9 | 31.7 | 15.3 | -75.2% | -48.5% | |
| Capital expenditure | 7.4 | 8.5 | 5.4 | -13.2% | +36.8% | |
| Free cash flow | 0.5 | 23.3 | 9.9 | -97.8% | -94.9% | |
| Free cash flow margin | 0.4% | 17.9% | 8.2% | |||
| Cash from investing | -7.4 | -8.5 | -5.4 | |||
| Cash from financing | -10.4 | -13.9 | -8.0 | |||
| Depreciation and amortisation | 4.6 | 4.2 | 4.0 | +11.2% | +16.6% | |
| Share-based compensation | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.0% | +14.3% | |
| Buybacks | n/a | n/a | 0.0 | |||
| Diluted shares, weighted | 30m | 30m | 29m | +0.4% | +2.7% | |
| Shares outstanding at period end | 30m | 30m | 30m | -0.5% | +1.0% |
Cash flow lines for the quarter; where the company files them year to date, the quarter is the difference between two filings.
Balance sheet
| $ million | Q3 FY2026 | Q2 FY2026 | Q3 FY2025 | On the quarter | On the year | Last 8 quarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shareholders' equity | 323 | 317 | 283 | +1.8% | +14.1% | |
| Debt | 23.0 | 30.0 | 61.0 | -23.3% | -62.3% | |
| Operating lease liabilities | 172 | 170 | 173 | +1.3% | -0.5% | |
| Finance lease liabilities | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | -2.8% | -12.0% | |
| Other liabilities | 94.2 | 101 | 84.7 | -6.5% | +11.3% | |
| Total liabilities and equity | 613 | 619 | 603 | -0.9% | +1.8% | |
| Fixed assets | 102 | 99.7 | 88.9 | +2.7% | +15.1% | |
| Goodwill | 249 | 249 | 249 | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
| Cash and equivalents | 3.4 | 13.3 | 10.9 | -74.3% | -68.6% | |
| Receivables | 12.4 | 13.4 | 10.3 | -7.2% | +20.8% | |
| Inventory | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.7 | +1.8% | +1.6% | |
| Other assets | 245 | 242 | 242 | +1.1% | +1.0% | |
| Total assets | 613 | 619 | 603 | -0.9% | +1.8% |
Questions
What was El Pollo Loco Holdings' revenue in Q3 FY2026?
El Pollo Loco Holdings (LOCO) reported revenue of $126 million for Q3 FY2026, the quarter ended 30 September 2026, up 3.9% on the same quarter a year earlier.
How much did El Pollo Loco Holdings earn in Q3 FY2026?
Net income for Q3 FY2026 was $7 million, down 6.5% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $0.23.
When did El Pollo Loco Holdings report Q3 FY2026 results?
El Pollo Loco Holdings filed its 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 September 2026 with the SEC on 6 November 2026.
Quarterly results, the last 20 quarters
| Q4 FY2021 * | Q1 FY2022 | Q2 FY2022 † | Q3 FY2022 † | Q4 FY2022 * | Q1 FY2023 † | Q2 FY2023 | Q3 FY2023 | Q4 FY2023 * | Q1 FY2024 | Q2 FY2024 | Q3 FY2024 | Q4 FY2024 * | Q1 FY2025 | Q2 FY2025 | Q3 FY2025 | Q4 FY2025 * | Q1 FY2026 | Q2 FY2026 | Q3 FY2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 109 | 110 | 124 | 120 | 116 | 115 | 121 | 120 | 112 | 116 | 122 | 120 | 114 | 119 | 126 | 122 | 124 | 126 | 130 | 126 |
| Operating income | 8.4 | 3.3 | 10.4 | 6.9 | 9.5 | 7.8 | 10.9 | 13.7 | 7.5 | 9.7 | 12.3 | 10.1 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 11.3 | 11.5 | 10.3 | 12.2 | 18.7 | 10.2 |
| Operating margin | 8% | 3% | 8% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 9% | 11% | 7% | 8% | 10% | 8% | 8% | 8% | 9% | 9% | 8% | 10% | 14% | 8% |
| Interest expense | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.5 |
| Pre-tax income | 7.9 | 3.0 | 10.2 | 6.8 | 8.9 | 6.9 | 9.8 | 12.2 | 6.0 | 8.1 | 10.8 | 8.6 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 10.1 | 10.3 | 9.3 | 11.5 | 18.0 | 9.6 |
| Tax rate | 21% | 30% | 30% | 26% | 26% | 28% | 28% | 24% | 28% | 27% | 29% | 28% | 24% | 30% | 30% | 29% | 30% | 29% | 29% | 29% |
| Net income | 6.2 | 2.1 | 7.1 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 4.9 | 7.1 | 9.2 | 4.4 | 5.9 | 7.6 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 7.1 | 7.4 | 6.5 | 8.2 | 12.8 | 6.9 |
| Net margin | 6% | 2% | 6% | 4% | 6% | 4% | 6% | 8% | 4% | 5% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 6% | 10% | 5% |
| Diluted EPS | $0.17 | $0.06 | $0.20 | $0.14 | $0.18 | $0.13 | $0.20 | $0.28 | $0.14 | $0.19 | $0.25 | $0.21 | $0.20 | $0.19 | $0.24 | $0.25 | $0.22 | $0.27 | $0.43 | $0.23 |
| Operating cash flow | 9.8 | -2.3 | 14.1 | 10.1 | 16.6 | 3.8 | 18.0 | 10.7 | 8.2 | 11.2 | 17.0 | 13.0 | 5.6 | 4.7 | 14.1 | 15.3 | 13.9 | 13.0 | 31.7 | 7.9 |
| Capital expenditure | 4.3 | 3.8 | 5.1 | 4.2 | 6.9 | 6.0 | 3.3 | 6.1 | 6.0 | 4.2 | 6.5 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 5.0 | 5.4 | 8.8 | 10.2 | 8.5 | 7.4 |
| Free cash flow | 5.4 | -6.1 | 9.1 | 5.9 | 9.7 | -2.2 | 14.7 | 4.7 | 2.1 | 7.0 | 10.4 | 9.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 9.1 | 9.9 | 5.1 | 2.8 | 23.3 | 0.5 |
| Buybacks | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 5.8 | 11.9 | 28.8 | 12.6 | 1.2 | 17.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | -0.0 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Shares outstanding | 37m | 37m | 37m | 37m | 37m | 36m | 36m | 33m | 31m | 31m | 30m | 30m | 30m | 30m | 30m | 30m | 30m | 30m | 30m | 30m |
| Filing | 10-K | 10-Q | 10-Q | 10-Q | 10-K | 10-Q | 10-Q | 10-Q | 10-K | 10-Q | 10-Q | 10-Q | 10-K | 10-Q | 10-Q | 10-Q | 10-K | 10-Q | 10-Q | 10-Q |
Each quarter as filed, linked to its filing.
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* The fourth quarter is the full year less the first three quarters, because the company files the year and not the quarter on its own. A fourth quarter's EPS, and its diluted share count where shown, are from the company's results press release for that quarter, checked against the company's filed figures or a second data source. A quarter marked † is shown as the company last restated it in a later filing, so it compares with the quarters around it on one basis; rest on a figure for the one first filed. EPS is as filed. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and the share count are as they are. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Cash flow lines filed year to date are the difference between two filings. Shares outstanding are at the period end where the balance sheet tags them, otherwise the count on the filing's cover page. A derived fourth-quarter EPS is left blank when a split in the year makes the arithmetic meaningless.10-Q for the period ended 30 September 2026, filed 6 November 2026: the filing.