Beyond Meat cut its annual revenue forecast for the second time this year as consumers curtail spending on its pricier plant-based products and announced new job cuts and a review of global operations as part of a cost-reduction plan.
The company projected about $9.5 million (€8.9 million) to $10.5 million (€9.9 million) in cash operating savings for 2024, mainly from laying off about 65 employees, or about 19% of global non-production workforce.
President and CEO Ethan Brown commented, "We anticipated a modest return to growth in the third quarter of 2023 that did not occur, reflecting further sector-specific and consumer headwinds.
"Even as we implement measures to address those headwinds that are within our sphere of influence, we intend to pursue a further, sizeable reduction of operating expenses to improve our cost structure."
Outlook
Beyond Meat expects 2023 net revenue to be in the range of $330 million (€310.4 million) to $340 million (€319.8 million), compared with its prior outlook of $360 million (€338.6 million) to $380 million (€357.4 million).
The company has been grappling with inflation-weary customers veering back to lower-priced animal meat at a time when it faced rising competition in its plant-based business from Tyson Foods and privately owned Impossible Food.
Meanwhile, the segment has also faced uncertainty around the health benefits of plant-based meat.
Beyond Meat said it did not expect to sustain free cash flow positive operations in the fourth quarter.
The company also estimated third-quarter net revenue of $75 million (€70.5 million), compared to analysts' expectations of $87.9 million (€82.7 million), according to LSEG data.
In October 2022, Beyond Meat had disclosed plans to cut 200 jobs in an attempt to rein in costs.
Read More: Plant-Based Food Alternatives Could Drive Worldwide Sustainability Efforts, Study Finds
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM.
