On Wednesday, Beyond Meat posted a quarterly loss beyond analyst expectations as raw material costs and rising freight expenses ate into margins. The veggie-burger maker said it expects to see more of a slowdown in demand for its products going forward as well.
The company also missed quarterly revenue estimates, causing shares to fall 1% in extended trading.
As inflation has been sapping consumer’s spending power, they have been trading down from discretionary products like plant-based meat, to more pocketbook-friendly animal-meat products.
Chief Executive Ethan Brown said on an earnings call, “We are testing a pricing reduction that more quickly collapses the pricing delta between one of our core products and its animal protein equivalent.”
The company has cut its full-year revenue forecast in October a second time due to continued softening demand, especially in the refrigerated sub-segment. The company also noted it has cut 200 more jobs which will save it about $39 million.
CFRA Research analyst Arun Sundaram said, “It doesn’t look like the top line will get significantly better for Beyond anytime soon.”
Persistent industry-wide supply chain challenges, the Russia-Ukraine war and rising inflation have all pummeled the company’s margins.
In addition, competitors Tyson Foods (TSN.N) and privately owned Impossible Food Inc. have also been heavily discounting, adding even more pressure to the company’s margins. Chief Executive Ethan Brown added that the volume of competition in the plant-based meat category has been eroding Beyond Meat’s market share.
In the third quarter, the company’s net loss widened to $101.7 million, or $1.60 per share. Analysts had predicted $1.14 per share per IBES data from Refinitiv. In addition, net revenue fell 22.5%. Analysts had predicted it would come in at $98.1 million, but instead it was reported at $82.5 million.