Beyond Meat Inc reported a lower revenue prediction for the year and job losses as growing inflation hampered the company’s efforts to make its more expensive plant-based meat more affordable to consumers.

Higher plant-based meat prices have hampered the category’s growth, with individuals switching to lower-cost chicken and beef, according to Beyond Meat Chief Executive Ethan Brown during an earnings call.

Brown, citing Numerator statistics, said the second quarter saw a sequential decline in U.S. household penetration of plant-based meat for the first time in more than four years.

Beyond Meat now anticipates revenue of $470 million to $520 million in 2022, up from $560 million to $620 million previously.

According to Refinitiv data, analysts expected revenue of $559.4 million.

“(The guidance cut) calls into question how long Beyond Meat’s liquidity will last to fund their future growth. The pressures on the model are only intensifying,” Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh said.

At the conclusion of the second quarter, the company’s cash and cash equivalents balance was $454.7 million. For the first half of the year, net cash utilised in operating activities was $235.7 million.

Beyond Meat also stated that it would seek to minimise operating expenses after its second-quarter loss of $1.53 per share exceeded analysts’ projections of $1.18.

Beyond Meat stated it would slash around 4 per cent of its global employees to save nearly $8 million per year. As of the end of 2021, it has 1,108 full-time employees and 311 full-time contract workers.

Net revenue fell 1.6 per cent to $147 million in the second quarter, falling short of expectations of $149.2 million due to price cuts in regions of Europe to clear excess stock.

(Adapted from WionNews.com)

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