Earnings Outlook For El Pollo Loco Holdings

On Thursday, March 11, El Pollo Loco Holdings LOCO will release its latest earnings report. Benzinga's report can help you figure out the ins and outs of the earnings release.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and EPS are useful metrics of profitability. Total earnings also known as net income is equal to total revenue minus total expenses. Dividing net income by the total number of shares outstanding yields EPS.

Earnings And Revenue

El Pollo Loco Holdings EPS will likely be near $0.15 while revenue will be around $111.61 million, according to analysts. El Pollo Loco Holdings earnings in the same period a year ago was $0.18 per share. Quarterly sales came in at $107.55 million.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

Wall Street analysts who study this company will publish analyst estimates of revenue and EPS. The averages of all analyst EPS and revenue estimates are called the "consensus estimates"; these consensus estimates can have a significant effect on a company's performance during an earnings release. When a company posts earnings or revenue above or below a consensus estimate, it has posted an "earnings surprise", which can really move a stock depending on the difference between actual and estimated values.

The Wall Street estimate would represent a 16.67% decline in the company's earnings. Sales would be have grown 3.78% from the same quarter last year. El Pollo Loco Holdings's reported EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past like this:

Stock Performance

Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings were trading at $19.39 as of March 09. Over the last 52-week period, shares are up 114.43%. Given that these returns are generally positive, long-term shareholders are probably satisfied going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. El Pollo Loco Holdings is scheduled to hold the call at 16:30:00 ET and can be accessed here.