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 ...
Portillo's Inc. is a prominent American restaurant chain specializing in Chicago-style street food. The company was founded by Dick Portillo in 1963, when he opened a small hot dog stand called 'The Dog House' in Villa Park, Illinois, with an investment of $1,100. Over the decades, it grew into a ...Portillo's Inc. is a prominent American restaurant chain specializing in Chicago-style street food. The company was founded by Dick Portillo in 1963, when he opened a small hot dog stand called 'The Dog House' in Villa Park, Illinois, with an investment of $1,100. Over the decades, it grew into a beloved regional brand, and by 2014, it was sold to Berkshire Partners for nearly $1 billion. Portillo's went public in October 2021, listed on NASDAQ under the symbol PTLO. As of the latest data, the company operates 107 locations across nine states, with plans for expansion. Its diverse menu includes classic Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut fries, and its iconic homemade chocolate cake and chocolate cake shakes. Revenue generation is primarily from in-restaurant sales, with growing digital and catering channels. Financially, Portillo's has a market capitalization of approximately $320 million, with trailing twelve-month revenue of $749 million (derived from revenue per share of $10.345 and shares outstanding approximately 72.4 million). The company's gross profit margin is 24.1%, EBITDA margin 8.7%, and net profit margin 1.9%. However, it carries significant debt, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44 and net debt to EBITDA of 10.24, leading to high leverage. Under CEO Brett A. Patterson, who took the role in 2024, the company focuses on growth, enhancing digital capabilities, and improving operational efficiency. Despite challenges such as high capital expenditure and negative free cash flow, Portillo's continues to be a culturally iconic brand in the restaurant industry, known for its nostalgic themed interiors and loyal customer base.
YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength.
QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes.
RevenueThe total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three).
$732.1M
+3.0%
+8.9%
Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day.
$19.3M
-34.5%
+1827.4%
Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials.
+39.4%
-2.6%
+13.9%
Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on).
+7.0%
-14.4%
+181.5%
Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales.
+2.6%
-36.4%
+1685.6%
Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock.
$-18.5M
-288.1%
+748.5%
FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine.
-2.5%
-282.6%
+695.3%
Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe.
143.3%
-3.6%
-1.5%
Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking.
0.27x
-31.6%
+1.5%
Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground.
Operator: Good afternoon. Welcome to Portillo's Second Quarter 26 Earnings Conference Call. All participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, Please note that this event is being recorded. I will now hand you over to the Vice President of Investor Relations, Chris Brandon. Please go ahead.
Chris Brandon: Thank you, operator. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Portillo's Second Quarter 26 Earnings Call. With me today are Brett A. Patterson, President and Chief Executive Officer and Pamela Smith, interim chief financial officer. You will find our 10 Q and earnings press release at investors.portillos.com. Any commentary made here about our future results and business condition are forward-looking statements. Which are based on management's current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. We do not update these forward-looking statements unless required by law. Our 10 Q identifies risk factors that may cause our actual results to vary materially from these forward-looking statements. Today's earnings call will make reference to non-GAAP financial measures, which are not an alternative to GAAP measures. Reconciliations of these non GAAP measures to their most comparable GAAP counterparts are included in this morning's posted materials. Finally, after we deliver our prepared remarks, we will be happy to take questions from our covering sell-side analysts. And with that, I will turn the call over to Brett.
Brett A. Patterson: Thanks, Chris, and good afternoon, everyone. Quarter 2 demonstrated the strength and resilience of the Portillo's brand. While we lapped significant prior year promotional and 1-time activities, that we chose not to repeat, underlying sales remain resilient reinforcing the enduring appeal of our brand and the strength of our restaurant teams. Over the past several months, we have taken meaningful steps to strengthen operations, improve our business model and unit economics, and build a more sustainable platform for profitable new unit growth. This work is grounded in 3 strategic pillars we introduced last quarter. Operational excellence, integrated marketing, and disciplined development. I will cover the progress we have made how we are approaching the next 6 months, and the key takeaways from the second quarter before Pamela Smith walks through our results in more detail. Before we get into that, I am excited to provide an update on our finance leadership transition. As you may have seen yesterday, we announced that Kevin Kalicak will join Portillo's as chief financial officer. We are thrilled to welcome such an accomplished leader to the team. His leadership will be essential as we continue strengthening our financial rigor and executing our growth strategy. I also want to thank Pamela for stepping in to lead our finance function over the last quarter. he is been a great …
