Beyond Meat (BYND) is scheduled to report results of its second fiscal quarter after the market close on Thursday, August 5, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. What to watch for:
1. OUTLOOK: During the company's last earnings call, Beyond Meat said it sees second quarter revenue between $135M-$150M, with consensus $142.62M. The company said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it continues to experience significantly reduced demand in its foodservice channel as decreased foot traffic, streamlined menu offerings and restrictions on foodservice locations' operating capacity have resulted in closures or meaningfully curtailed operations of many of the company's foodservice customers. At the same time, the surge in demand from retail customers that characterized the early stages of the pandemic as consumers abruptly shifted toward more at-home consumption has moderated, Beyond Meat added. Given that the ongoing evolution of consumer demand patterns across retail and foodservice channels has significantly increased the difficulty of forecasting the company's customer demand levels, management believes it cannot provide full-year guidance for 2021 with reasonable certainty. Additionally, Beyond Meat said it expects to unveil new lower fat Beyond Burger patty later this year.
2. COMPETITION CONCERNS: In a research note to investors last week, Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery said it was keeping a Neutral rating on Beyond Meat with a $120 price target after visiting Motif FoodWorks, a food technology company that creates ingredients for plant-based foods using a synthetic biology approach. The analyst believes Motif could be able to help Beyond's peers make higher quality products, "which may pose a risk to Beyond's market share ambition." Impossible Foods, which uses a synthetic biology approach that Beyond has shunned, has gained five percentage points of share in the last year as Beyond's share has been flat, Lavery added. The analyst believes Beyond's competitors likely have more "tools in the kit" if they are willing to use synthetic biology-based ingredients to improve products.
3. E-COMMERCE STORE IN CHINA: Beyond Meat announced last month the launch of a new ecommerce site on China's JD.com (JD). "This new online store is Beyond Meat's first e-commerce channel in China, and will offer a variety of its delicious and nutritious plant-based products like Beyond Beef, the Beyond Burger and Beyond Pork in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, with plans to expand to 300 cities in the country. The opening of the store also marks the first time that consumers can directly purchase Beyond Pork, a savory and sumptuous product that was created exclusively for the Chinese market," the company said in a statement.
