Beyond Meat Inc has forecast annual revenue below estimates, hitting its share price, as it faced stiffer competition amid flat demand for plant-based protein.
The California-based company said it expects revenue of $560 million (€499 million) to $620 million (€533 million) for 2022, compared with estimates of $637.3 million (€568.4 million), according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Sales to U.S. grocers, convenience stores and other retailers declined 19.5% in the fourth quarter ended December 31.
Rivals including Tyson Foods and Kellogg recently entered the fray with big discounts to get more people to trial their products.
Plant-Based Meat Sales
U.S. retail sales in the plant-based meat category fell 0.4% last year compared to 45% growth in 2020, Beyond Meat Chief Executive Officer Ethan Brown said during an earnings call.
"We experienced intense increased competition during the period when the size of the prize did not expand," he said.
Those remarks echoed comments made by rival Maple Leaf Foods Inc, parent of Lightlife Foods, earlier on Thursday.
Maple Leaf Chief Operating Officer Curtis Frank said during an earnings call that many consumers tried plant-based proteins early on but did not repeat purchases. Read full story
Share Price
Beyond Meat posted a larger than expected loss of $1.27 per share in the fourth quarter, versus estimates for a loss of 71 cents, as it spent heavily on marketing and incurred high manufacturing costs due to supply chain disruptions.
Net revenue was $100.7 million (€89.8 million) in the quarter, compared with $101.9 million (€90.1 million) a year earlier. Analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected $101.4 million.
Brown said growth should resume this year, in part as Beyond Meat executes on partnerships with McDonald's Corp and KFC and launches a new product line with PepsiCo Inc in coming weeks.
"As we begin 2022, we are pleased with the progress we are making against our long-term strategy, such as the number of tests and core menu placements recently announced by our global QSR partners," he said.
"Though we will continue to invest during 2022, we expect to substantially moderate the growth of our operating expenses as we leverage the building blocks we now have in place to serve our customers, consumers, and markets — bringing forward our exciting and expansive future one delicious serving at a time."
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest A-Brands news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
