Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Beyond Meat Beats Q4 Forecasts Despite Flagging Sales
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
February 24, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Beyond Meat on Thursday reported better-than-expected fourth quarter sales despite flagging consumer demand and lower prices.

The plant-based meat maker said its revenue fell 21% to $80 million in the October-December period. Still, that beat Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet were forecasting revenue of $75.8 million.

Beyond Meat’s shares jumped 14% in after-hours trading.

The El Segundo, California-based maker of plant-based burgers, sausages, nuggets and other products said its sales volumes continued to decline despite price cuts in the U.S. and Europe. The strong dollar also hurt profits from abroad, the company said.

Beyond Meat’s net loss narrowed to $66.9 million for the quarter, or $1.05 per share. That also beat Wall Street’s forecast of a $1.18 per-share loss.

Beyond Meat President and CEO Ethan Brown said the company is seeing progress in its drive to cut costs and manufacturing complexity. Beyond Meat cut 200 jobs __ or 19% of its workforce __ in October and has narrowed its North American contract manufacturers from eight to three. It also reduced inventory.

Higher Cost Impacted Sales

Those savings __ along with easing costs for raw ingredients __ should help Beyond Meat tackle one of its most persistent problems: the high cost of its products relative to animal-based meat. On Thursday, Walmart was advertising Beyond Meat burgers at $9.68 per pound; lean ground beef was $5.86 per pound.

High prices were one the reasons for a broader slowdown in demand for fresh plant-based meats like burger patties and sausages last year, as shoppers confronted overall inflation at the grocery. U.S. sales of fresh meat alternatives fell 11% in 2022, wiping out the 11% gain they had seen in 2021, according to NielsenIQ.

Brown said the “drummed-up misperception” that plant-based meats are over-processed and unhealthy has also hurt sales, and the company intends to do more marketing and outreach to consumers about the health benefits of a plant-based diet, including lower cholesterol.

Brown also said Beyond Meat plans new products with improved taste this year. The company got a boost this month when McDonald’s introduced plant-based McNuggets in Germany. The McNuggets are the second product McDonald’s has co-produced with Beyond Meat; it also sells a McPlant burger in several European markets.

“This category will win over time on three things. It will win around taste. It will win around a proper understanding of the health benefits that our products provide. And on price,” Brown told investors during a conference call Thursday.

Beyond Meat said it expects net revenue in the range of $375 million to $415 million this year, which would be lower than the $418 million in reported in 2022.

The company said grocery price inflation and concerns about a recession could hurt sales in the first half, but it should see some improvement as the year progresses.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Israel Says Attacks on Iran Are Nothing Compared With What Is Coming

DON'T MISS

Military Parade Barrels Through Nation’s Capital With Tanks, Troops and 21-Gun Salute

DON'T MISS

Authorities Still Searching for Suspect in Shooting of 2 Minnesota State Lawmakers

DON'T MISS

Caitlin Clark Returns and Leads Fever to Upset Win Over Unbeaten Liberty

DON'T MISS

Iran Fires Another Round of Missiles at Israel, and Explosions Are Heard in Tehran

DON'T MISS

Stephen Miller’s Former High School Classmate Challenges His Deportation Policies

DON'T MISS

‘We Will Kill You Dead’: Florida Sheriff’s Stark Warning to Demonstrators

DON'T MISS

Trump Says ‘War in Israel-Iran Should End’

DON'T MISS

Trump Curbs Immigration Enforcement at Farms, Meatpacking Plants, Hotels and Restaurants

DON'T MISS

Fresno Protesters Rally Against Trump Administration on ‘No Kings Day’

UP NEXT

California Opens Investigation Into State Farm

UP NEXT

Fed to Keep Rates Steady as Tariffs, Possible Oil Shock Counter Inflation Data

UP NEXT

California Police Are Illegally Sharing License Plate Data With ICE and Border Patrol

UP NEXT

Where’s the Inflation From Tariffs? Just Wait, Economists Say.

UP NEXT

Trump Can Keep National Guard Deployed to Los Angeles for Now, Appeals Court Rules

UP NEXT

Judge Temporarily Bars Trump From Deploying National Guard Troops in Los Angeles

UP NEXT

Google Cloud Outage Hits Platforms Including Spotify, Discord

UP NEXT

Is the Trump-Musk Spat Really Over? Judging From Wall Street Trading, It’s a Fragile Peace

UP NEXT

A Look at Boeing’s Recent Troubles After Air India Crash

UP NEXT

Gavin Newsom Changes His Tune on Running for President

Israel and Iran Bombard Each Other, Trump Says He Can ‘Easily’ End Conflict

17 hours ago

Trump Vetoed an Israeli Plan to Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, US Officials Say

17 hours ago

Newsom Wanted To Fast-Track the Delta Tunnel Project. The Legislature Slowed the Flow

18 hours ago

Five Weeknight Dishes: Seven Ingredients or Fewer, Because Summer

20 hours ago

Big Fresno Fair Unveils Second Wave of 2025 Concert Acts

21 hours ago

Israel Says Attacks on Iran Are Nothing Compared With What Is Coming

1 day ago

Military Parade Barrels Through Nation’s Capital With Tanks, Troops and 21-Gun Salute

1 day ago

Authorities Still Searching for Suspect in Shooting of 2 Minnesota State Lawmakers

1 day ago

Caitlin Clark Returns and Leads Fever to Upset Win Over Unbeaten Liberty

1 day ago

Iran Fires Another Round of Missiles at Israel, and Explosions Are Heard in Tehran

1 day ago

Fresno Man Arrested in Fatal DUI Crash on Trimmer Springs Road

A man is dead and three others are injured following a rollover crash Saturday evening on Trimmer Springs Road that investigators say was ca...

15 hours ago

15 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested in Fatal DUI Crash on Trimmer Springs Road

Mourners pray during the funeral of a Palestinian killed in what the Gaza health ministry says was Israeli fire near a distribution center in Rafah, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 15, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
15 hours ago

Israeli Military Kills 41 People in Gaza, Medics Say

Bullet holes mark the front door of Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman, who was shot alongside his wife, Yvette, in what is believed to be an attack by 57-year-old suspect Vance Luther Boelter, who is also the lead suspect in the shooting deaths of senior Democratic state assemblywoman Melissa Hortman and her husband, Marc, in Champlin, Minnesota, U.S., June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Tim Evans
17 hours ago

Manhunt for Gunman Who Shot Two Minnesota Lawmakers Enters Second Day

Israelis take shelter at the side of a highway as siren sounds following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in central Israel June 15, 2025. REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
17 hours ago

Israel and Iran Bombard Each Other, Trump Says He Can ‘Easily’ End Conflict

President Donald Trump speaks as he attends a military parade to commemorate the U.S. Army's 250th Birthday, on the day of his 79th birthday, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
17 hours ago

Trump Vetoed an Israeli Plan to Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, US Officials Say

18 hours ago

Newsom Wanted To Fast-Track the Delta Tunnel Project. The Legislature Slowed the Flow

20 hours ago

Five Weeknight Dishes: Seven Ingredients or Fewer, Because Summer

21 hours ago

Big Fresno Fair Unveils Second Wave of 2025 Concert Acts

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend