El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ:LOCO) shares are soaring after the company reported first-quarter FY24 earnings.
Yesterday, the company reported first-quarter FY24 sales growth of 1.4% year-on-year to $116.15 million, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $111.083 million.
System-wide comparable restaurant sales increased 5.1%. Company operated restaurants constituted 83.6% of total revenue while Franchise made up 9.8% of total revenue.
Operating income for the quarter increased 24% to $9.7 million, with an operating margin of 8.3%.
Adjusted EBITDA of $15.7 million gained 28.7% in the quarter. Adjusted EPS of $0.22 beat the consensus estimate of $0.14.
EI Pollo held $9.1 million in cash and equivalents as of March 27.
Outlook: For the remainder of 2024, EI Pollo expects to open two new company-owned restaurants and five to seven new franchised restaurants and sees a capital spend of $25 million – $28 million.
Price Action: LOCO shares are trading higher by 19.5% at $10.28 at the last check Friday.
Photo credit: El Pollo Loco