El Pollo Loco Holdings, Inc. (LOCO) Q1 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the El Pollo Loco First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants have been placed in a listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions following the presentation. Please note that this conference is being recorded today, May 7, 2026. And now, I would like to turn the conference over to Ira Filth, the company's Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead. Thank you, Operator, and good afternoon, everyone. By now, everyone should have access to our first quarter 2026 earnings release, which can be found at www.elpoyoloco.com in the investor relations section. Before we begin our formal remarks, I need to remind everyone that our discussions today will include forward-looking statements, including statements related to our new products and growth opportunities, strategic and operational initiatives, expectations regarding sales and margins, potential changes to our product platforms, capital expenditure plans, the ability of our franchisees to drive growth, expectations regarding commodity and wage inflation, remodel plans, and our 2026 guidance, among others. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and therefore, you should not put undue reliance on them. These statements are also subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from what we currently expect. For a more detailed discussion of the risks that could impact our future operating results and financial condition, we refer you to our recent SEC filings, including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31st, 2025, as well as our Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2026, which we expect to file tomorrow, and en...