Portillo's Inc. (PTLO) Stock — Forensic Analysis, Red Flags & Rating | Stockonomy · Stockonomy
Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Jun 28, 2026
Portillo's Inc. (PTLO)
A forensic read on Portillo's Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
0.2
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
23.0
P / E (ttm)
3.4%
ROE
$359M
Market cap
Portillo's Inc. earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 0.2, placing it in the Distress zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
3%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 3% and steady — well below its ~9% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+22.1%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +66% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+22.1%/yr). The count is GROWING — existing holders are being diluted. That's ~22.1% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~66%.
852% of FCFShareholder returns.Returned $57M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2021 — 852% of free cash flow. More than free cash flow generated — and beyond operating cash too, so the extra is coming from debt or cash reserves, which isn't sustainable indefinitely.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin2.6%
Debt / Equity0.52x
Free Cash Flow$-18.5M
Latest Revenue$732.1M
Return on Equity4.1%
Revenue Growth YoY+3.0%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on Portillo's Inc.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about PTLO's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown