Beyond Meat’s once-sizzling success has gone cold on the grill. The plant-based pioneer is bleeding cash as Americans turn their backs on fake meat.
On Monday, the El Segundo, California-based company reported a $110.7 million loss for the July-to-September quarter.
A steep ten percent drop in sales — and a warning they will fall again over the next three months — sent shares plunging more than eight percent.
Beyond, once trading above $234 a share and valued at $8billion, closed Tuesday at just $1.22 — a collapse that’s left the onetime vegan icon nearly worthless.
Analysts say the brand that once promised to grill the beef industry has become the latest casualty of fading vegan hype.
‘Beyond Meat suffers from taste and texture issues, high prices, and perhaps an “ultra-processed food” image,’ Jerry Thomas, the CEO of Decision Analyst, told the Daily Mail.
‘The chances of the company surviving are meager.’
Beyond first reached grocery stores in 2013, promising the fresh taste of a burger without a butchered cow. The fresh-faced food startup got an A-list promotional assists from Kim Kardashian, Martha Stewart, and model Nicole Williams-English.
Nicole Williams-English, a Canadian model and animal activist, became a spokesperson for Beyond Meat’s partnership with Carl Jr’s burgers
It quickly caught fire with investors eager to back a meatless revolution, with its stock briefly soaring more than 350 percent in 2019.
The momentum launched a vegan craze. Soon, McDonald’s tested Beyond patties, Burger King debuted the Impossible Whopper, and Dunkin’ launched a Beyond breakfast sandwich.
But the hype didn’t last, as McDonald’s and Dunkin’ dropped their menu items after weak sales. Burger King remains the lone major chain still offering a plant-based burger.
Customers who dabbled in meat alternatives during the pandemic have largely gone back to beef, even though the price of cattle continues to skyrocket.
Analysts say many consumers now see Beyond as expensive, overprocessed, and not particularly tasty.
‘The problem for Beyond Meat is that the company is not living up to its own hype,’ Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData, told the Daily Mail.
‘There is a market for fake meat, but consumers are broadly skeptical of the category as it is not seen as particularly natural and is viewed as being highly processed.’
That sentiment is showing up in the company’s earnings.
Beyond Meat’s CEO, Ethan Brown, said Monday’s debt move ‘marks a meaningful next step’ for the company’s cash crunch
Beyond’s stock, which once valued the company at nearly $8billion, has dropped like a rock – it ended today at just $1.22 a share
‘Beyond Meat suffers from taste and texture issues, high prices, and perhaps an “ultra-processed food” image,’ Jerry Thomas, the CEO of Decision Analyst, told the Daily Mail. ‘The chances of the company surviving are meager.’
On its earnings call, Beyond said it was dragged down by slumping US demand, shrinking shelf space in grocery stores, and weaker restaurant sales.
Domestic revenue dropped 21 percent, while international sales were down just one percent over the past three months.
Last month, the company lost more than 50 percent of its value in one day as the company desperately tried to bring in more investors.
That spurred a short-lived movement of retail investors snapping up Beyond shares, and pushing the company into meme-stock territory.
But that momentum has lapsed.
Looking ahead, Beyond warned things could get even tighter through the end of the year.
It now expects $60million to $65million in fourth-quarter revenue — the equivalent of roughly 1.3million fewer packages of its $7.99 two-patty burgers hitting grills.
Beyond declined to comment on this story.
