A previous version of this story misstated Beyond Meat’s revenue from the year-ago quarter.
Bloomberg News
Beyond Meat could extend its recent rally, with shares of the maker of meat alternatives surging in after-hours trading Thursday after the company delivered an upbeat outlook in its first-ever earnings report as a public company.
The stock BYND, -3.02% shot up 16% in after-hours trading.
While expectations were high for Beyond Meat heading into the first-quarter report, given the stock’s massive appreciation since its initial public offering a month ago, the company’s outlook satisfied Wall Street’s appetite. Beyond Meat now expects full-year revenue upward of $210 million, ahead of the roughly $205 million that analysts had been expecting.
What really has investors excited is that the company called its own forecast conservative, disclosing that the outlook not only excludes expectations around deals that haven’t yet been inked, but also that the projection doesn’t even include contributions from deals that are still in trial, like Tim Horton’s, which launched a test of Beyond Meat breakfast sandwiches in May. If successful, that test could expand to a nationwide launch. Beyond Meat is in talks with other food-service providers about potential arrangements as well, fueling enthusiasm.
Read: Beyond Meat is a ‘disruptor’ as plant-based meat industry sales poised to reach $100 billion
A key question on Beyond Meat’s earnings call was whether the company would have the capacity to meet the high demand for plant-based meat, especially if the company were to ink new partnerships with high-profile players like McDonald’s. “I don’t see anyone out there that would break our system,” Beyond Meat Chief Executive Ethan Brown said on the company’s conference call.
The company projects that it will break even by the end of the year on the basis of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — the only profitability forecast Beyond Meat gives — and Brown expressed confidence that the company can reach its target while investing in marketing and research and development to grow the appeal of its product.
Brown said that the company also benefited in the most recent quarter from a more favorable revenue mix, which included greater contributions from its “fresh” products, which carry higher margins than frozen ones.
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Beyond Meat’s actual first-quarter results were a bit of a sideshow in the report, given that the company had already issued an expected range for the period around the time of its IPO. Beyond Meat reported $40.2 million in net revenue, whereas the company had told investors in a filing to expect $38 million to $40 million. Analysts were modeling $38.9 million.
A year earlier, Beyond Meat generated $12.8 million in revenue.
The company is still in the red, posting a net loss of $6.6 million for the quarter, compared with $5.7 million a year prior. On a per-share basis, Beyond Meat lost 95 cents, compared with 98 cents in the year-ago quarter.
The company posted pro-forma per-share losses of 14 cents, compared with 13 cents a year earlier, which is a non-GAAP measure.
Beyond Meat shares have surged since the company’s initial public offering in early May, with the stock up about 300% from its IPO price of $25 as of Thursday’s close. The shares have been a popular target for short sellers, leading to sky-high borrowing costs amid limited supply available for lending.
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