Beyond Meat shares crater as losses mount, company issues disappointing forecast as U.S. growth weakens

Beyond Meat on Wednesday reported a wider-than-expected loss for its third quarter as U.S. sales shrank.

The company’s fourth-quarter outlook also fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Shares of the company tumbled as much as 17% in extended trading.

Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

• Loss per share: 87 cents vs. 39 cents expected
• Revenue: $106.4 million vs. $109.2 million expected

Beyond reported fiscal third-quarter net loss of $54.8 million, or 87 cents per share, wider than a net loss of $19.3 million, or 31 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected a loss of 39 cents per share.

Net sales rose 12.7% to $106.4 million, missing expectations of $109.2 million. The company reported strong growth outside the United States, with international grocery and restaurant divisions each seeing sales more than double during the quarter.

However, U.S. revenue fell 13.9% compared with a year ago, mostly due to weaker grocery demand. The company said softer demand and operational challenges, like severe weather, hurt its domestic sales. New products, like its meatless chicken, slightly offset declines.

In October, the company warned investors that it would be reporting weaker sales than it had previously predicted, citing a wide range of factors, including the delta variant and distribution problems.

And the company’s forecast doesn’t indicate a sunnier fourth quarter. Beyond is predicting net sales of $85 million to $110 million for those three months. Wall Street was expecting revenue of $131.6 million during the quarter.

“Near-term market and operating conditions notwithstanding, we remain committed to our long-term strategy,” CEO Ethan Brown said in a statement.