Beyond Meat is forecasting another drop in sales in the second quarter after posting a 15% drop in the first three months of the year.
Shares of the plant protein company closed higher on the Nasdaq yesterday (May 6) despite reporting a 15.3% decline in first-quarter sales to $58.2 million and a total loss in volumes of 19.5%.
Sales in the current second quarter are forecast between $60 million and $65 million, down from $75 million in the same period a year ago.
However, there were some positives in Beyond Meat’s first-quarter numbers. The adjusted EBITDA loss in the period to March 28 narrowed to $27.8 million from a loss of $50.5 million a year earlier. Net losses narrowed to $28.5 million from $61.1 million.
Beyond Meat shares ended the US trading day up 13.2% at $1.04, bringing the 2026 gain to just over 18%.
However, more than 59% has fallen from the value of Beyond Meat’s share price in the last 12 months amid a combination of falling sales, net losses, cash burn, inventory adjustments, impairment charges and delisting warnings.
“The company continues to experience a high level of uncertainty and volatility within its operating environment, which has, and may continue to have, unforeseen impacts on the company’s actual results,” Beyond Meat said yesterday in setting out its sales outlook for the second quarter.
Despite the January announcement of the company’s entry into “plant-based protein” beverages, founder, president and CEO Ethan Brown said the focus remains on the core alternative meat business.
“This quarter marked a decisive expansion of our business openness to include the rapidly growing functional foods and beverages category,” Brown said in yesterday’s earnings commentary.
“Even as we apply our brand, expertise and technology to adjacent markets, we remain highly focused on the performance of our core business, which we believe will deliver substantial long-term value. To this end, we are pleased to report a significant improvement in operating expenses and our lowest quarterly cash burn in more than two years.”
First-quarter operating expenses fell to $43.1 million from $57.4 million in the corresponding period. Net cash used in operations fell to $5 million from $26.1 million.
Beyond Meat’s narrowing operating profit loss to $41.1 million from a loss of $64.4 million a year earlier was another positive, but first-quarter sales declined across nearly all business segments and geographies.
The exception was international retail, where sales rose 8.1% to $13.71 billion with a slight 0.3% increase in volumes. Otherwise, foodservice sales and volumes in that channel and region decreased by 25.9% and 32.6%, respectively.