Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Jun 26, 2026
El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (LOCO)
A forensic read on El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
1.1
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
17.0
P / E (ttm)
10.1%
ROE
$500M
Market cap
El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 1.1, placing it in the Distress zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
6%Return on invested capital. Return on invested capital is 6% and steady — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
1% of revStock-based comp load. Stock-based compensation ran 1% of revenue and 21% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.18 per diluted share. Meaningful — reported free cash flow flatters the economics, since SBC is a real cost paid in shares.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$490.0M
Revenue Growth YoY+3.6%
Net Margin5.4%
Free Cash Flow$25.4M
Return on Equity9.1%
Debt / Equity0.18x
The full forensic report — free
🔒Every red flag on LOCO, detailed and traced to the filing
🔒Altman Z distress & Beneish M earnings-quality screens
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast + reverse-DCF
🔒Earnings-quality & capital-allocation forensics
No credit card · informational only, not investment advice
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Data from SEC EDGAR public filings · metrics as of Jun 26, 2026. Forensic signals flag probability, not certainty.