EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND) (the "Company") today announced that the Company is reducing its third quarter net revenues outlook. The Company is proceeding through its quarterly close, and based on preliminary results, the Company now expects third quarter net revenues of approximately $106 million as compared to prior guidance of $120 million to $140 million. Although the Company's previous third quarter guidance anticipated a sequential decline in net revenues, the deceleration was larger than anticipated. Multiple factors contributed to the shortfall during the quarter.

While the Company continues to study the drivers behind this quarter's performance, the Company believes demand was impacted by broader ongoing macro and micro-economic factors, including among others, the effects of the COVID-19 Delta variant. The Company also experienced a decrease in retail orders that persisted longer than expected from a Canadian distributor coinciding with the reopening of restaurants, expected incremental orders that did not materialize from a change in a distributor servicing one of the Company's large customers, observed delays in distribution expansion and shelf resets believed to be driven by customer labor shortages, and incurred shortfalls at certain U.S. foodservice customers believed to be driven by the effects of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

The Company further experienced challenges in operations that led to unfulfilled orders, with severe weather as a key driver resulting in the loss of potable water for two weeks in one Pennsylvania facility and water damage to inventory in another.

These impacts were partially offset by accelerated orders from an international customer during the third quarter.

Preliminary results remain subject to the completion of normal quarter-end accounting procedures and adjustments and therefore are subject to change. Full third quarter results will be discussed during the upcoming Beyond Meat earnings conference call, scheduled for Wednesday, November 10, 2021 after market close at 5:00 p.m. ET. Investors interested in participating in the live call can dial 201-389-0879 or listen to a simultaneous, live webcast available on the Investors section of the Company's website at www.beyondmeat.com. The webcast will also be archived.

About Beyond Meat

Beyond Meat, Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND) is one of the fastest growing publicly-traded food companies in the United States, offering a portfolio of revolutionary plant-based proteins made from simple ingredients without GMOs, bioengineered ingredients, hormones, antibiotics or cholesterol. Founded in 2009, Beyond Meat products are designed to have the same taste and texture as animal-based meat while being better for people and the planet. Beyond Meat's brand commitment, Eat What You Love™, represents a strong belief that there is a better way to feed our future and that the positive choices we all make, no matter how small, can have a great impact on our personal health and the health of our planet. By shifting from animal-based meat to plant-based protein, we can positively impact four growing global issues: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources and animal welfare. As of June 2021, Beyond Meat had products available at approximately 119,000 retail and foodservice outlets in over 80 countries worldwide. Visit www.BeyondMeat.com and follow @BeyondMeat, #BeyondBurger and #GoBeyond on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are based on management's current opinions, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions and projections regarding financial performance, prospects, future events and future results, including ongoing uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the ultimate duration, magnitude and effects of the pandemic and, in particular, the impact to the foodservice channel, operations and supply chains, growth trends, our international expansion plans, market share, new and existing customers and expense trends, among other matters, and involve known and unknown risks that are difficult to predict. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "outlook," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are only predictions, not historical fact, and involve certain risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which or whether, such performance or results will be achieved. Actual results, levels of activity, performance, achievements and events could differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. While Beyond Meat believes that its assumptions are reasonable, it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and in particular, the COVID-19 pandemic, and, of course, it is impossible to anticipate all factors that could affect actual results. There are many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements made herein including, but not limited to, the effects of global outbreaks of pandemics or contagious diseases or fear of such outbreak (such as COVID-19), including on our ability to expand in new geographic markets or the timing of such expansion efforts; a resurgence of COVID-19 and the discovery and spread of COVID-19 variants, such as the Delta variant, which could slow, halt or reverse the reopening process, or result in the reinstatement of social distancing measures, business closures, restrictions on operations, quarantines and travel bans; the impact of adverse and uncertain economic and political conditions in the U.S. and international markets; the volatility of capital markets and other macroeconomic factors; estimates of our expenses, future revenues, capital requirements and our needs for additional financing; our ability to effectively manage our growth; our ability to identify and execute cost-down initiatives intended to achieve price parity with animal protein; the failure of acquisitions and other investments to be efficiently integrated and produce the results we anticipate; the success of operations conducted by joint ventures; the effects of increased competition from our market competitors and new market entrants; changes in the retail landscape, including the timing and level of trade and promotion discounts, our ability to grow market share and increase household penetration, repeat buying rates and purchase frequency, and our ability to maintain and increase sales velocity of our products; the timing and success of distribution expansion and new product introductions in increasing revenues and market share; the timing and success of strategic partnership launches and limited time offerings resulting in permanent menu items; our estimates of the size of market opportunities; our ability to effectively expand our manufacturing and production capacity; our ability to accurately forecast demand for our products and manage our inventory; variations in product selling prices and costs, and the mix of products sold; our ability to successfully enter new geographic markets, manage our international expansion and comply with any applicable laws and regulations, including risks associated with doing business in foreign countries, substantial investments in our manufacturing operations in China and The Netherlands, and our ability to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or other anti-corruption laws; the success of our marketing initiatives and the ability to grow brand awareness, maintain, protect and enhance our brand, attract and retain new customers and grow our market share; our ability to attract, maintain and effectively expand our relationships with key strategic foodservice partners; our ability to attract and retain our suppliers, distributors, co-manufacturers and customers; our ability to procure sufficient high-quality raw materials to manufacture our products; the availability of pea and other protein that meets our standards; our ability to diversify the protein sources used for our products; our ability to differentiate and continuously create innovative products, respond to competitive innovation, and achieve speed-to-market; our ability to successfully execute our strategic initiatives; the volatility associated with ingredient, packaging and other input costs; the impact of inflation across the economy, including higher food, grocery, transportation and fuel costs; real or perceived quality or health issues with our products or other issues that adversely affect our brand and reputation; our ability to accurately predict taste preferences, trends and demand and successfully innovate, introduce and commercialize new products and improve existing products, including in new geographic markets; significant disruption in, or breach in security of our information technology systems and resultant interruptions in service and any related impact on our reputation; management and key personnel changes, the attraction and retention of qualified employees and key personnel, and our ability to maintain our company culture as we grow; the effects of natural or man-made catastrophic events particularly involving our or any of our co-manufacturers' manufacturing facilities or our suppliers' facilities; the impact of marketing campaigns aimed at generating negative publicity regarding our products, brand and the plant-based industry category; the effectiveness of our internal controls; our indebtedness and ability to pay such indebtedness; our ability to meet our obligations under our campus headquarters lease, the timing of occupancy and completion of the build-out of our space, cost overruns and the impact of COVID-19 on our space demands; changes in laws and government regulation affecting our business, including Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission governmental regulation, and state, local and foreign regulation; new or pending legislation, or changes in laws, regulations or policies of governmental agencies or regulators, both in the U.S. and abroad, affecting plant-based meat, the labeling or naming of our products, or our brand name or logo; the financial condition of, and our relationships with our suppliers, co-manufacturers, distributors, retailers and foodservice customers, and their future decisions regarding their relationships with us; the ability of our suppliers and co-manufacturers to comply with food safety, environmental or other laws and regulations; seasonality; the sufficiency of our cash and cash equivalents to meet our liquidity needs and service our indebtedness; economic conditions and the impact on consumer spending; outcomes of legal or administrative proceedings, or new legal or administrative proceedings filed against us; our, our suppliers' and our co-manufacturers' ability to protect our proprietary technology and intellectual property adequately; the impact of tariffs and trade wars; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; and the risks discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 3, 2021 filed with the SEC on August 12, 2021, and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 2, 2021 to be filed with the SEC, as well as other factors described from time to time in the Company's filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth above. Such forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release. Beyond Meat undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement because of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be made that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

Contacts

Media:

Shira Zackai

917-715-8522

shira.zackai@beyondmeat.com

Investors:

Fitzhugh Taylor and Raphael Gross

beyondmeat@icrinc.com

Beyond Meat® Updates Third Quarter 2021 Outlook; Earnings Conference Call Scheduled for November 10, 2021