Beyond Meat Reports Stronger Demand As Pandemic Inspires Food Stockpiling
5:00 pm ET August 4, 2020 (Dow Jones) Print
By Micah Maidenberg
Beyond Meat Inc. said consumers scooped up its alternative-meat products in the second quarter from retail stores amid coronavirus-inspired food stockpiling.
The plant-based meat company reported revenue of $113.3 million for its second quarter that ended June 27, up 69% compared with last year. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $99.2 million in revenue.
Sales from groceries and other shops roughly tripled year-over-year in the U.S. to $90 million but dropped 61% to $6.5 million in the company's business serving restaurants and other outlets.
"As the toll of the Covid-19 pandemic took hold across the food service industry, we repurposed assets and repacked and rerouted products to meet increased consumer activity in the retail aisles," Chief Executive Ethan Brown said.
Sales overseas fell 17% in the quarter to $16.8 million, the company said.
Beyond Meat reported a loss of $10.2 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a loss of $9.4 million, or 24 cents a share, the year earlier. Analysts predicted a loss of 2 cents a share.
Overall, costs of goods sold, or those tied to raw materials, manufacturing and shipping, among others, rose to $79.7 million from $44.5 million.
The El Segundo, Calif.-based food producer reported $5.9 million in costs for repurposing some product inventory that was meant for food service customers to retail clients, given the demand the company saw from consumers at stores because of the pandemic.
On Monday, Tyson Foods Inc., the largest U.S. producer of meat, reported higher costs in the second quarter related to safety equipment, employee pay and other expenses tied to the pandemic.
Beyond Meat has been pushing to expand where its products are available, saying Monday that it struck deals with Walmart Inc.'s Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. to sell its burger product in those stores.
The company has also been trying to narrow the price gap between its plant-based products and traditional meats. In June, it began selling for a limited time 10-packs of its burgers at Walmart, Target Corp. and other retailers' locations at a suggested retail price of $15.99, or approximately $1.60 a patty.
Its packages containing two burgers typically have sold for $2.50 to $3 a patty, while beef patties on average sell for $1.50 each, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
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