El Pollo Loco vs Sweetgreen
Sweetgreen reported revenue of $680 million in fiscal 2025, 1.4 times El Pollo Loco's $490 million in fiscal 2025. El Pollo Loco's revenue grew 3.6% in its latest year, and Sweetgreen's grew 0.4%. El Pollo Loco had an operating margin of 8.6%, against -20.5% at Sweetgreen. Free cash flow was $25 million at El Pollo Loco and −$119 million at Sweetgreen. Their fiscal years end in different months (December 31 and December 28), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| El Pollo Loco | Sweetgreen | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 | FY2025, Dec 28, 2025 |
| Revenue | $490M | $680M |
| Revenue growth | 3.6% | 0.4% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 2.8% | 25.2% |
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 8.6% | −20.5% |
| Net margin | 5.4% | −19.7% |
| Free cash flow | $25M | −$119M |
| Free cash flow margin | 5.2% | −17.5% |
| Return on capital | 8.9% | −44.2% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.8x | — |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2M | $0M |
| Change in diluted share count | −2.1% | 3.2% |
| Last close | $14.88 | $12.01 |
| P/E at the last close | 12.9× | 80.1× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | — | bought $4.5 million, sold $254,581 |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 of 8 | 2 of 8 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
El Pollo LocoSweetgreen
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
El Pollo LocoSweetgreen
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
El Pollo LocoSweetgreen
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the El Pollo Loco and Sweetgreen pages.