Portillo's outlines new restaurant strategy and expects 8 openings in 2026 while focusing on transaction growth

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• Restaurant-level adjusted EBITDA margins estimated to be 20.5% to 21% in 2026

  80% confidence

• The Atlanta market entry in Q4 confirms the potential in the future growth strategy

  80% confidence

• Perks-driven offers are not significantly degrading average ticket, currently at $23.60

  80% confidence

• Declined to give top-line guidance, citing macro uncertainty but expressed confidence in achieving EBITDA targets with available levers such as pricing and Texas improvements

  80% confidence

• Prior price increases will roll off throughout 2026

  80% confidence

• Anticipates total capital expenditures in the range of $55 million to $60 million in 2026

  80% confidence

• Perks is the near-in best weapon for traffic

  80% confidence

• Expects to open 8 new restaurants in 2026

  80% confidence

• Marketing and sales-building are top priorities for improving Texas performance

  80% confidence

• Improvement in value scores driven by Perks promotions

  80% confidence

• Highlighted growth in off-premise channels, especially pickup and delivery

  80% confidence

• Kennesaw Atlanta location registered over $2 million in sales in its first 8 weeks

  80% confidence

• Expects labor inflation of 3% to 3.5% in 2026

  80% confidence

• Does not plan to shift to a points-based system for Perks, preferring the surprise and delight approach to maintain brand's experiential DNA

  80% confidence

• Marketing spend will rise slightly but remain within G&A guidance

  80% confidence

• No additional pricing actions were taken during Q4, and net effective price increase was approximately 3.2% for the full year

  80% confidence

• Achieved 40-second improvement in drive-thru speed of service and better accuracy

  80% confidence

• Will continue to iterate on prototypes to develop the best possible offering for customers and shareholders with 4-wall profit potential driving each decision

  80% confidence

• Brett Patterson has all the qualities the Board was looking for to lead Portillo's next phase of growth

  80% confidence

• Texas saw both margin expansion and overall profitability improvement due to labor and deployment adjustments

  80% confidence

• The next Atlanta restaurant won't open until 2027 and will be farther away to reduce cannibalization

  80% confidence

• Core markets continue to have outstanding AUVs and profitability, while Texas market expansion continued to be a headwind for the business

  80% confidence

• Q4 revenues were $185.7 million, reflecting an increase of $1.1 million or 0.6% compared to last year

  80% confidence

• Forecasts mid-single-digit commodity inflation in 2026, particularly from beef

  80% confidence

• Adjusted EBITDA for 2026 anticipated to be flat versus 2025

  80% confidence

• Non-comp restaurants contributed $7.8 million in revenue growth, while same-restaurant sales declined 3.3%

  80% confidence

• Newer markets require constant brand messaging and always-on marketing

  80% confidence