Beyond Meat results fail to sizzle as competition heats up, shares tumble By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A Beyond Meat Sausage is seen on display at a store in Manhasset, New York, U.S., June 3, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

(Reuters) -Beyond Meat Inc missed estimates for quarterly revenue on Wednesday, as the plant-based protein maker battled sizzling competition from deep-pocketed players looking to grab a slice of its market share, sending its shares down 22%.

Waning consumer interest in plant based meat, rising competition from established players such as Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) and Kellogg (NYSE:K) Co, and costs associated with the introduction of newer products are hurting the ability of companies such as Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) to bolster growth.

Beyond Meat's revenue from U.S. foodservice unit, including sales to restaurants, dropped 7.5% to $15.5 million in the first quarter ended April 2.

"The decrease in U.S. foodservice channel net revenues was primarily attributable to the discontinuation of distribution at a certain customer, which was included in the year-ago period," Beyond Meat said.

Gross margin was 0.2% of net revenue in the first quarter, compared with 30.2% a year earlier, hurt by its investments to launch a plant-based jerky in partnership with PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) as well as higher manufacturing and logistics costs.

Net revenue in its international business also fell 7% in the quarter.

Overall net revenue was $109.5 million, missing analysts' expectations of $112.3 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net loss widened to $100.5 million, or $1.58 cents per share, from $27.3 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier. Analysts were expecting a loss of $1.01 per share.

Beyond Meat, however, reaffirmed its revenue forecast for 2022.

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