Products from Beyond Meat Inc, the maker of vegan burgers, are displayed for sale at a market in Encinitas, California, U.S., June 5, 2019. REUTERS//File photo
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Aug 4 (Reuters) – Beyond Meat Inc ( BYND.O ) cut its full-year revenue forecast on Thursday and announced job cuts as rising inflation hurt the company’s efforts to make its more expensive plant-based meat more affordable for consumers.
Higher prices for plant-based meat have slowed growth in the category with people swapping out lower-priced chicken and beef, Beyond Meat Chief Executive Ethan Brown said on a call from earnings.
The second quarter saw a sequential contraction in the penetration of plant-based meat in U.S. households for the first time in more than four years, Brown said, citing data from Numerator.
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Beyond Meat now expects 2022 revenue of $470 million to $520 million, up from its previous range of $560 million to $620 million. Analysts had expected revenue of $559.4 million, according to data from Refinitiv.
“(The guidance cut) calls into question how long Beyond Meat’s liquidity will last to fund its future growth. The pressures on the model are only intensifying,” analyst Oppesh Parikh said.
The company’s cash and cash equivalents balance was $454.7 million at the end of the second quarter. Net cash used in operating activities was $235.7 million in the first half of the year.
Beyond Meat also said it would aim to cut operating expenses, after its second-quarter loss of $1.53 a share was much wider than analysts’ expectations of $1.18.
To post nearly $8 million in annualized savings, Beyond Meat said it would cut about 4 percent of its global workforce. It had 1,108 full-time employees and 311 full-time contract workers at the end of 2021.
Net income also declined 1.6% to $147 million in the second quarter, missing estimates of $149.2 million, as it had to cut prices in parts of Europe to eliminate excess stocks.
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Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bangalore; Edited by Maju Samuel and Anil D’Silva
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