Beyond Meat shares dip 4% on bigger-than-expected loss, Q3 warning

Revenue improved 32% to $149.4 cardinal from $113.3 cardinal a twelvemonth ago.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected a nett nonaccomplishment of 23 cents a stock connected gross of $141 million.

“We are pleased to study grounds nett revenues and the instrumentality to maturation successful nutrient work arsenic our customers welcomed consumers backmost to their venues. We are besides arrogant of our retail performance, wherever we drove year-over-year maturation contempt cycling past year’s request surge driven by user panic-buying,” Beyond Meat Chief Executive Ethan Brown said successful a connection announcing the results.

But Beyond warned of “near-term uncertainty related to COVID-19 and its imaginable interaction connected retail and foodservice request levels” that could effect successful $120 cardinal to $140 cardinal successful third-quarter gross — importantly abbreviated of the $152.9 cardinal forecast by FactSet.

An summation successful corruption rates due to the fact that of the COVID-19 Delta variant could people a instrumentality to much cautionary approaches successful the nutrient assemblage business, Beyond Chief Financial Officer Phil Hardin told analysts during a conference telephone late Thursday. “There continues to beryllium uncertainty” implicit consumers keeping a region from eateries arsenic good arsenic a simplification successful inventory orders, helium said.

The second-quarter results capped an eventful week for the largest shaper of plant-based meat. On Tuesday, Hopdoddy Burger Bar said it volition service Beyond’s products astatine the burger chain’s 32 locations successful Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado and Tennessee. Earlier, Brown told the BBC helium supported a taxation connected meat. “The full conception of a Pigouvian tax, which is to taxation negative, you know, things that are precocious successful externalities, I deliberation is an absorbing one,” helium said. “I’m not an economist, but wide that benignant of happening does entreaty to me.”

Americans, too, are uncovering plant-based nutrient much appealing. Retail income of plant-based nutrient surged 43% successful the past 2 years, outpacing full nutrient income maturation by 9 times, according to Impossible Food Inc.’s 2021 State of Meat successful Foodservice manufacture study this week. Plant-based nutrient income accrued 45% past year.

Beyond’s banal is down 2% truthful acold successful 2021. The broader S&P 500 index  SPX, +0.60%  has gained 18% this year.