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Portillo's, Inc. (PTLO)
NASDAQ:PTLO
US Market
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Portillo's (PTLO) AI Stock Analysis

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PTLO

Portillo's

(NASDAQ:PTLO)

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Neutral 52 (OpenAI - 5.2)
Rating:52Neutral
Price Target:
$4.50
▼(-23.86% Downside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:06/13/26
The score is held back primarily by deteriorating profitability and inconsistent free cash flow alongside a leveraged balance sheet. Technicals also point to a weak intermediate-term trend with only mixed near-term momentum. Valuation is only moderately supportive and lacks dividend yield, while the latest earnings call reinforces a balanced setup: guidance reiterated and operating cash improving, but margin and cost pressures plus near-term comp headwinds remain significant.
Positive Factors
Multi-year revenue growth and expansion
Consistent top-line growth driven by unit expansion demonstrates scalable demand and a clear growth runway. New-restaurant contribution to recent revenue shows openings can meaningfully move sales, supporting a durable revenue base as Portillo’s targets disciplined expansion in high-return sites like airports and downtowns.
Negative Factors
Margin compression and rising costs
Sustained margin deterioration driven by commodity, labor and operating cost increases weakens the company’s ability to convert sales into profits. Thinner margins reduce flexibility to absorb future cost shocks, constrain reinvestment capacity, and pressure long-term returns on capital absent structural cost or pricing fixes.
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Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Multi-year revenue growth and expansion
Consistent top-line growth driven by unit expansion demonstrates scalable demand and a clear growth runway. New-restaurant contribution to recent revenue shows openings can meaningfully move sales, supporting a durable revenue base as Portillo’s targets disciplined expansion in high-return sites like airports and downtowns.
Read all positive factors

Portillo's Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Any
Any
Restaurant Count
Restaurant Count
Tracks the total number of restaurants, indicating the company’s expansion efforts and market penetration.
Chart InsightsPortillo’s footprint grew rapidly—from the low‑60s to 104 restaurants by end‑2025—but that expansion has produced uneven returns: Texas openings materially pressured restaurant-level margins and cash, prompting a development reset. Management is dialing back to a measured growth cadence (guiding ~8 openings in 2026), emphasizing the smaller Future 1.0 prototype (early Atlanta results promising) to lower capex and improve unit economics, prioritizing margin recovery and revolver paydown over aggressive unit-count growth.
Data provided by:The Fly

Portillo's (PTLO) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)

Portillo's Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description
Portillo's Inc., along with its affiliated companies, owns and operates a network of quick-service and fast-casual restaurants throughout the United States. The company's diverse menu prominently features classic Chicago-style hot dogs and sausage...
How the Company Makes Money
Portillo’s primarily makes money by selling food and beverages to customers at its company-operated restaurants. Revenue is generated per transaction across multiple ordering occasions and channels, including in-restaurant dining, drive-thru, take...

Portillo's Earnings Call Summary

Earnings Call Date:May 05, 2026
(Q1-2026)
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% Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Jul 30, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Neutral
The call conveyed a mixed picture: top-line revenue growth (+3.5%), improved transactions and a notable jump in operating cash (+85.8%) and loyalty penetration were positives, along with steps to tighten development discipline and commodity hedging. However, the quarter showed margin compression (restaurant-level and adjusted EBITDA declines), rising operating costs (commodity, labor, repairs/maintenance and occupancy), near-term promotional/lapping pressures (April ~ -1 point comps, May headwinds), preopening/dead site costs and a CFO transition. Management emphasized a multi-quarter plan centered on operational excellence, targeted marketing and disciplined development. Given the material margin and cost pressures offsetting revenue and cash flow improvements, the call overall was balanced between constructive strategic initiatives and meaningful near-term operational and financial headwinds.
Positive Updates
Revenue Growth Driven by New Restaurants
Total revenues of $182.6M in Q1, up $6.2M or 3.5% year-over-year; revenue growth was driven by non-comparable (new) restaurants which contributed $7.7M of the increase.
Negative Updates
Same-Restaurant Sales Slight Decline and Check Pressure
Same-restaurant sales declined 0.1% (approximately $0.2M); average check decreased 0.9% while transactions rose 0.8% — lower average check driven by ~1% product mix decline and only a 0.1% menu price increase amid promotional activity.
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Q1-2026 Updates
Negative
Revenue Growth Driven by New Restaurants
Total revenues of $182.6M in Q1, up $6.2M or 3.5% year-over-year; revenue growth was driven by non-comparable (new) restaurants which contributed $7.7M of the increase.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Management said it is "comfortable" reiterating fiscal‑year guidance (but that expectations may evolve) and outlined several near‑term financial and operational assumptions: mid‑single‑digit commodity inflation for the year with beef a key pressure and Q4 expected to be the most pressured, about 65% of beef flats hedged and roughly 30% of the total basket forward‑bought for Q2–Q4; net effective pricing entered Q1 with ~3% carryover from 2025 (roll‑offs of ~1.5% in January, ~1% in April and ~0.7% in June), a 2% selective price action was taken in mid‑April, net pricing was just under 4% in April and just under 3% in May, and they do not expect pricing to be negative in Q2; they expect continued headwinds in May (lapping BOGO Beef) after April comp trends were roughly -1 point. On development and liquidity, they have opened one restaurant since quarter‑end (Frisco), expect three more in 2026 (including DFW airport and a downtown Chicago inline), plan ~4–6 openings in 2027 with any reacceleration targeted around 2028, and emphasized discipline with a cash‑on‑cash return focus; balance‑sheet and cash metrics cited were $24.0M cash, $104M drawn on the revolver, ~$42M revolver capacity remaining, total net debt of $347M, and cash provided by operations up 85.8% Y/Y to $17.6M YTD.

Portillo's Financial Statement Overview

Summary
Strong multi-year revenue growth is outweighed by notable TTM margin compression (gross margin down to ~29% from ~39% in 2025; net margin ~2.1% vs ~4.2% in 2024), elevated leverage (debt-to-equity ~1.46x) with modest ROE (~3.4%), and weak cash conversion as free cash flow turned negative (about -$8.6M) despite positive operating cash flow.
Income Statement
62
Positive
Balance Sheet
54
Neutral
Cash Flow
46
Neutral
BreakdownTTMDec 2025Dec 2024Dec 2023Dec 2022Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue738.25M732.07M710.55M679.90M587.10M534.95M
Gross Profit213.88M288.67M287.78M275.17M228.47M229.40M
EBITDA70.76M76.01M94.79M79.85M67.53M46.06M
Net Income15.63M19.34M29.52M18.42M10.85M5.99M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets1.62B1.61B1.50B1.39B1.28B999.57M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments23.99M19.96M22.88M10.44M44.43M39.26M
Total Debt688.58M999.49M596.23M550.41M523.60M319.15M
Total Liabilities1.12B1.11B1.01B925.43M847.18M576.17M
Stockholders Equity470.95M467.80M401.06M322.38M256.34M171.26M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow-8.58M-18.52M9.85M-17.14M9.83M6.69M
Operating Cash Flow81.28M71.91M98.04M70.78M56.89M42.87M
Investing Cash Flow-89.25M-90.19M-88.11M-87.84M-47.02M-36.26M
Financing Cash Flow19.03M15.37M2.51M-16.93M-4.71M-8.78M

Portillo's Technical Analysis

Technical Analysis Sentiment
Negative
Last Price5.91
Price Trends
50DMA
4.93
Negative
100DMA
5.23
Negative
200DMA
5.37
Negative
Market Momentum
MACD
-0.16
Negative
RSI
52.61
Neutral
STOCH
82.15
Negative
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For PTLO, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 5.91 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 4.07, above the 50-day MA of 4.93, and above the 200-day MA of 5.37, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.16 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 52.61 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 82.15 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for PTLO.

Portillo's Risk Analysis

Portillo's disclosed 43 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Portillo's reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks

Portillo's Peers Comparison

Overall Rating
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Financial Indicators
Name
Overall Rating
Market Cap
P/E Ratio
ROE
Dividend Yield
Revenue Growth
EPS Growth
70
Outperform
$1.09B25.1011.97%3.02%110.25%
62
Neutral
$415.91M20.85-182.42%2.09%9.37%-16.75%
61
Neutral
$18.38B12.79-2.54%3.03%1.52%-15.83%
55
Neutral
$690.05M32.525.91%10.60%-5.10%
52
Neutral
$338.85M20.473.37%2.37%-49.32%
* Consumer Cyclical Sector Average
Performance Comparison
Ticker
Company Name
Price
Change
% Change
PTLO
Portillo's
4.44
-7.00
-61.19%
BJRI
BJ's Restaurants
52.62
9.38
21.69%
NATH
Nathan's Famous
101.94
-4.65
-4.36%
BLMN
Bloomin' Brands
8.29
0.40
5.04%

Portillo's Corporate Events

Executive/Board ChangesShareholder Meetings
Portillo’s Shareholders Confirm Board, Pay, and Auditor Choices
Positive
Jun 12, 2026
On June 9, 2026, Portillo’s Inc. held its 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, with 72,160,015 Class A shares and 3,424,546 Class B shares entitled to vote as of the April 10, 2026 record date. Shareholders elected seven directors to serve u...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
Portillo’s Appoints Interim CFO Amid Leadership Transition
Neutral
May 22, 2026
On May 20, 2026, Portillo’s Inc. appointed Pamela Smith as interim chief financial officer and principal accounting officer, succeeding Michelle Hook following her previously announced departure. Smith, 59, brings experience from leading a b...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesFinancial Disclosures
Portillo’s CFO Departs Amid Mixed First-Quarter 2026 Results
Negative
May 5, 2026
Portillo’s reported first-quarter 2026 results on May 5, 2026, showing revenue up 3.5% to $182.6 million, driven largely by new restaurant openings, while same-restaurant sales slipped 0.1% as lower average check offset higher traffic. Opera...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.

Disclaimer

This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.Date of analysis: Jun 13, 2026