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Beyond Meat shares drop below $1 on
investor concerns
[October 15, 2025]
By DEE-ANN DURBIN
Beyond
Meat's shares were trading below $1 Tuesday as investors fretted over
the company's plans to cut its debt by issuing more shares.
It was further bad news for the plant-based meat maker, which has been
struggling with weak demand for its burgers, sausages, tenders and other
products. Beyond Meat's net revenue was down 15% in the first six months
of this year. |
Packages of Beyond Meat's Beyond Burgers and Beyond Sausage, are shown
in this photo, in New York, April 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Richard Drew,
File) |
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El
Segundo, California-based Beyond Meat said Monday that most of
the holders of its convertible notes had agreed to a plan to
help the company reduce its debt load by $800 million and extend
the time until that debt matures.
Under the plan, Beyond Meat exchanged debt due in 2027 for
$202.5 million in debt maturing in 2030. The company also said
it would issue up to 326 million shares of new stock. That
rattled investors, since it will dilute the value of current
shares.
Beyond Meat's stock closed Monday at $1.04 per share. On
Tuesday, Beyond Meat's shares opened at 92 cents and were down
12% in mid-day trading.
Nasdaq-listed companies must not let their stock drop below $1
for 30 consecutive days or they could eventually see the stock
delisted. Beyond Meat's shares are down 73% from the start of
this year.
Beyond Meat was the darling of the plant-based meat industry
when it went public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2019. The
company had attracted celebrity investors like Microsoft
co-founder Bill Gates and actor Leonardo DiCaprio and had big
plans to expand overseas.
But U.S. demand for its products never really took off.
Consumers weren't excited about the taste or the long list of
ingredients, and inflation-related cost increases further hurt
the company. Beyond Meat introduced a healthier version of its
signature burgers in 2024, but that didn't boost U.S. sales.
Demand has been higher in Europe, where McDonald's sells Beyond
Meat's plant-based burgers and nuggets. But U.S. fast food
chains have been reluctant to add Beyond Meat's products to
their menus. Beyond Meat also suspended its operations in China
earlier this year due to poor sales.
During a conference call with investors in August, Beyond Meat
founder and CEO Ethan Brown said the company planned to
increasingly use “Beyond” as its primary brand and move beyond
animal meat replicas and into other protein offerings.
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