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The
faux meat maker's shares surged nearly 90% over the last year,
as the company emerged as one of the leaders of a plant-based
meat trend that has had fast-food chains falling over themselves
in a rush to get the veggie products on their menus.
However, Beyond Meat said on Monday COVID-19 restrictions were
cutting sales at many of the restaurants and food-service joints
it supplies, while initial stocking up of its plant-based
burgers and sausages at grocery stores had tapered down, leading
to a surprise quarterly loss.
"We are struck by the degree to which third quarter revenues
came in shy of the Street (it has been a long time since a food
company missed like this) and our crystal ball into Beyond
Meat's near-term fortunes is cloudier than ever," J.P.Morgan
analysts said.
J.P.Morgan was not the only brokerage rethinking its forecasts
for the company, as at least eight brokerages cut their price
targets on the company's stock.
There was some confusion around Beyond Meat's involvement with
McDonald's new "McPlant" product line, which was announced on
Monday.
Beyond Meat said it had co-created the patty used in McPlant,
but could not provide any further details, leaving analysts
puzzled as to how much Beyond Meat could earn from the tie up.
"Lack of clarity around potential McDonald's deal adds insult to
injury," Berenberg analysts said, adding that it was also
weighing on the company's shares.
(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak
Dasgupta)
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