Shares of El Pollo Loco Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LOCO) rose in after-hours trading Thursday following the grilled chicken chain’s reporting of growth in the second quarter.
The Costa Mesa-based company was up 3.7% in after-hours trading to $19 and a market cap of $668.3 million.
El Pollo Loco, with more than 475 restaurants, reported revenue growth of 22.5% to $122 million in the second quarter, beating analyst estimates of $118.3 million.
The company had second-quarter net income of $8.8 million, up from $5.5 million. Analysts on average expected net income of $9.9 million.
Same-store sales in the period rose 21% as restaurants in Los Angeles and other markets recover from the impacts of last year with growth coming from both company-owned and franchised locations.
El Pollo Loco declined to provide financial guidance for the year citing COVID, but did say it expects to open three to five company-owned and four to six franchised locations this year.
