What’s the outlook for Beyond Meat after a better-than-expected Q1?

Beyond Meat smashes past Wall Street earnings estimates

Plant-based burger patty maker Beyond Meat has reported first quarter 2020 net revenues of US$97.1 million, beating Wall Street’s estimates of US$86.88 million.

This is an increase of 141% from net revenues of US$40.2 million achieved in the same period a year prior.

The growth in Q1’s net revenues was primarily due to an increase in volume sold, partially offset by lower net price per pound.

According to the company, growth in volume sold was driven mainly by expansion in the number of distribution points both domestically and abroad, higher sales velocities at existing retail customers, and contribution from new products introduced subsequent to the first quarter of 2019.

Meanwhile, net income came in at US$1.8 million, equating to US$0.03 per share for this quarter, well above analyst estimates of -US$0.07 per share. Net income also smashed past Q1 2019’s net loss of US$6.6 million, or US$0.95 per share.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), a non-GAAP financial measure, was US$12.7 million compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of US$2.1 million a year ago.

Since the earnings release, Beyond Meat’s share price has rallied over 7% on IG’s after-hours trading platform. The last traded price was US$100.09 as at 03:00 ET on Wednesday 06 May 2020.

IG is a world-leading online trading and investments provider for thousands of financial markets. With CFDs, you can buy long or sell short on Beyond Meat shares and other US stocks depending on whether you think prices will rise or fall. Start today by opening an IG account.

Beyond Meat withholds outlook for the rest of 2020

Regarding the earnings, Beyond Meat’s President and CEO said: ‘I am proud of our first quarter financial results which exceeded our expectations despite an increasingly challenging operating environment due to the Covid-19 health crisis.

‘The health and safety of our employees and their families is our top priority and we have implemented a series of measures to minimize risks while supporting business continuity.’

These include the creation of an internal task force to actively monitor new developments and maintain a constant dialogue with health officials; implementation of various physical distancing and preventative hygienic protocols within the company’s facilities; and increased frequency of inventory reviews to ensure sufficient floor stocks of key inputs to mitigate against business disruption.

The company further noted in a statement that it continues to expect to benefit from food-at-home consumer demand in its retail channel.

However, given the ongoing uncertainty related to the Covid-19 pandemic, including the magnitude and duration of the impact to the foodservice channel, it has decided to suspend its 2020 outlook previously provided on 27 February 2020 until further notice.

In terms of stock analysis, the 12-month median share price target for Beyond Meat is US$72.50 per share, based on Factset estimates tallied from 16 analysts. Of these, four brokers have rated the stock a ‘buy’, 10 have given it a ‘hold’ rating, while four have rated it a ‘sell’.

How to trade Beyond Meat stocks with IG

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