Beyond Meat stock plummets despite impressive revenue growth of 287%

Beyond Meat’s shares took a 14% plunge ahead of its second-quarter earnings call even though the price per share has risen to around $205 from $25 since the company’s IPO.

It’s interesting because the company is growing in all sections of its plant-based products, according to the earnings call held this afternoon.

The company reported net revenue of $67.3 million, which represents a 287% increase year-over-year. But its loss per share of 24 cents was worse than expected. Analysts were projecting a loss per share of only 8 cents, according to a consensus estimate cited by CNBC.

Beyond Meat’s filing shows the company has $277 million in cash and $30.5 million in debt. Net loss was $9.4 million compared to $7 million last year, which was partly due to noncash expenses associated with common stock in conjunction with the IPO.

Beyond Meat’s CEO, Ethan Brown, suggested that the increase in gross profit and gross margin was driven by sales of Beyond Burgers as well as expansion into retail (new customers as well as greater demand from existing customers). A greater proportion of gross revenues from the company’s fresh platform also contributed to the improvement in gross margin.

Brown said that the company is focused on three key growth pillars: innovation, expansion, and sales velocity. Brown said that Beyond Meat’s “rapid and relentless” innovation program is creating new iterations of beef, pork, and poultry. The newest version of Beyond Burger is enjoying an “overwhelmingly positive response,” he said.

The expansion into both retail and food-service locations is also increasing revenue. Brown said that there are now 53,000 points of sale worldwide and cited Dunkin’s latest offering, the Beyond Breakfast sausage patty, as an example.

Finally, product availability is another factor. Brown noted expansion into Canada and Europe and said that 51 countries now have Beyond Meat products.

Brown said that the robust momentum of retail expansion and Beyond Meat’s innovation program alongside growing the supply chain for plant-based meats is meeting customer demand. He cited findings from the NPD Group that suggest that 95% of people who purchase plant-based products are also purchasing meat. To meet this demand, Brown said the sheer number of sources of plant proteins were already being explored. The company’s sausage products currently include not only pea protein, but also mung bean and brown rice, which should allay investor concerns over supply availability.

This “movement” is spurring Beyond Meat’s planned aggressive pursuit to increase global availability, which is estimated to generate in excess of $240 million in revenue in 2019, which would represent a 170% increase over 2018.