Beyond Meat Reports First Quarter Performance
Beyond Meat delivered its first quarterly report since going public last month, and the results were beyond analysts estimates. The alternative meat startup reported a first-quarter net loss of $6.6 million, or 95 cents per share, widening from a net loss of $5.7 million, or 98 cents per share a year earlier.
The company predicted that its revenue will more than double in 2019 as demand from existing and new customers continues to grow. Shares of Beyond Meat jumped as high as 23% in after-hours trading upon the release of its first-quarter report.
“We’re being very conservative and viewing this as a floor,” CEO Ethan Brown told analysts on a conference call about its full-year outlook.
Beyond Meat’s net sales rose 215% to $40.2 million, exceeding expectations of $38.9 million based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv. Executives attributed the revenue growth to increased sales of the Beyond Burger and greater demand from new and existing customers.
In total, grocery store sales accounted for $19.6 million of Beyond Meat’s sales this quarter. Sales to restaurants like Carl’s Jr. and Del Taco made up $20.6 million of its revenue.
The plant-based burger company is forecasting full-year revenue will be higher than $210 million. Wall Street was anticipating that its 2019 revenue would be $205 million.
The company reported a net loss of $4.75 per share in 2018 on revenue of $87.9 million. While it declined to provide a outlook for its annual net loss or any individual quarters, it said it expects its second and third quarters to be its busiest.
Beyond Meat surged more than 160% in its first day trading on the public markets and has now soared nearly 300% above its initial public offering price, giving the company a market value of $5.8 billion.
In a tweet, Citron Research said the price of Beyond Meat has "become beyond stupid. Most heavily traded retail stock on Robinhood, market cap now bigger than industry, and superior competitor coming to market soon."
The analyst group expects Beyond Meat's stock price to retreat to $65 per share on earnings, and what it calls "retail exhaustion."
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