Beyond Meat stock jumps on lower costs, higher-than-expected sales

Bloomberg

Beyond Meat Inc surged in late trading after reporting fourth-quarter sales that exceeded expectations and the plant-based meat maker showed progress towards its goal of becoming profitable.
Fourth-quarter revenue of $79.9 million was above the average estimate of $75.7 million compiled by Bloomberg. It surpassed expectations in US sales to retailers and restaurants, as well as in international channels. The shares rose 14% in after hours trading in New York.
“We are making solid progress in our transition to a sustainable growth model,” Chief Executive Officer Ethan Brown said in the statement. The company posted a loss, excluding items such as taxes and interest, of $56.5 million. That’s better than Wall Street expected.
Revenue was still down 21% from a year earlier, however. The maker of the Beyond Burger has been struggling to convince consumers to stick with it as prices remain higher than animal meat and and budgets get tighter. Consumer interest in plant-based meat also appears to be waning, according to market data.
“Although revenues have yet to bottom, Beyond Meat is slowly but steadily making strides towards restoring margins and achieving its goal of positive operating cash flow by the second half of 2023,” Arun Sundaram, an equity analyst at CFRA, said in an email. He warned, however, that “the company continues to burn cash at a high rate.”
Beyond Meat said it now had $309.9 million in cash reserves at the end of the fourth quarter, down from the $390.2 million it reported the previous quarter. The company is reducing expenses by marketing less and by cutting operations costs. It has also laid off workers.