Beyond Meat Q1 Performance Beats Analyst Expectations

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Beyond Meat Q1 Performance Beats Analyst Expectations
Above and Beyond: CEO Ethan Brown speaks before the Nasdaq opening bell.

The share price for El Segundo-based Beyond Meat Inc. soared more than 15% in afterhours trading after the company reported earnings, beating analysts’ expectations.

Revenues more than tripled in the first quarter to $40.2 million from $12.8 million the previous quarter, driven by their hallmark offering, the Beyond Burger, which was picked up by fast food restaurants Carl’s Jr. and Del Taco. Still, the meat substitute company that went public last month reported a first quarter loss of $6.6 million.

Beyond Meat has been riding high, more than quadrupling its initial asking price since its IPO.

Chief Executive Ethan Brown projected the company would break even by the end of the year and said in a call to investors that he is “fanatically focused on driving the growth of this product through innovation.”

In 2017 and 2018, the company faced product shortages, but Brown said the company had grown their manufacturing capacity and brought on another U.S.-based supplier. It’s now looking beyond it key ingredient – pea protein – as the company pushes into global markets, he said.

This summer, Beyond will release their 2.0 version of Beyond Meat for retail distribution. Brown said the transition could cause some “isolated incidents” of shortages. But he expressed confidence that many of the hiccups in the system had been smoothed out.

Asked if Beyond could ramp up production to provide for a giant fast food seller such as McDonald’s, Brown said he didn’t see anything in the supply or manufacturing chain that would “break our system.”

Manufacturing, retail and trade reporter Rachel Uranga can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8351. Follow her on Twitter @racheluranga

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