By Dean Seal
Shares of Beyond Meat are down by a fifth after the company cut its annual revenue guidance amid weakening demand for its plant-based meat in the U.S.
The stock is down 20% at $12.24 in early trading. Shares are now trading close to where they had started the year.
The meat-alternative maker said after the market closed Monday that it now expects a 9%-to-14% decline in annual sales, compared with previous guidance for a 1% to 10% decline. The company also expects to miss its previous target for “cash flow positive operations” within the second half of the year.
The gloomy outlook comes after Beyond Meat’s sales fell 31% to $102.1 million in the second quarter, missing analyst forecasts for $108.7 million, according to FactSet.
Volumes were lower, particularly in the U.S. retail channel, which had a 38.5% drop in revenue on weak demand.
Chief Executive Ethan Brown said on a call with analysts that interest groups are partly to blame for deteriorating perceptions among U.S. consumers about the health benefits of plant-based meat alternatives.
Those groups “have succeeded in seeding doubts and fears around the ingredients and processes used in creating our plant-based meats,” Brown said.
Write to Dean Seal at [email protected]
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