Two food producers headed different directions Thursday after quarterly results. Plant food maker Beyond Meat shares tumbled after reporting weak results late Wednesday on falling demand. Organic egg producer Vital Farms cleared earnings views and hiked its outlook ahead of estimates. VITL stock has more than doubled in value this year.
Both stocks are in IBD's Food-Meat Products industry group. The group is up more than 90% year-to-date, the second-fastest moving industry among the 197 groups tracked by IBD. Among other big movers in the group, Pilgrim's Pride has a 32% gain in 2024 through Wednesday. Mama's Creations, a maker of fresh-made meals that still trades below 10, is up 34% this year.
Beyond Meat
Plant-based meat maker Beyond Meat reported a Q1 loss of 84 cents per share, narrowing from a loss of 92 cents per share last year. FactSet analysts expected a loss of 67 cents per share.
Net revenue tumbled 18% to $75.6 million, driven by a 16.1% drop in volumes sold and a 2.3% decline in revenue per pound. Revenue came in just ahead of estimates of $75.2 million.
U.S. retail net revenues fell 16% while its food service channel revenues decreased 16.2%. Part of the decline in U.S. retail revenue was due to demand softness and the ongoing discontinuation of Beyond Meat Jerky, the company said. Total U.S. revenue slumped 16% to $49.39 million. International net revenues collapsed 21.5% to $26.2 million.
Beyond Meat saw its U.S. distribution outlets decline by about 4,000 during the quarter to 69,000 locations.
The company guided second-quarter net revenues to between $85 million and $90 million, falling from $102.1 million last year. Analysts expect Q2 revenue of $88.5 million.
Beyond Meat expects full-year net revenue to range from $315 million to $345 million, which was in-line with analyst views of $322.9 million. The plant meat producer recorded $343.4 million in 2023 revenue.
BYND stock plummeted 14.4% Thursday.
As of Wednesday's close, shares had rallied nearly 39% from their 2024 low of 5.92 on April 25.
Now, Beyond Meat is down 21% so far this year.
BYND stock is not too far above its record low of 5.58 from late October.
Vital Farms
Organic egg producer Vital Farms early Thursday posted a 169% earnings increase, to 43 cents per share, more than double forecasts for 21 cents.
Net revenue leapt 24.1% to a record $147.9 million and beat estimates of $136.9 million. Vital Farms noted volumes jumped 18.4% due to expanded item offerings and store distribution gains at new and existing retail customers.
CEO Russell Diez-Canseco announced an agreement to acquire land to open a new egg washing and packaging facility in southern Indiana. The strategic investment is a key step to achieving the company's goal of reaching $1 billion or more in annual net revenue by 2027, Diez-Canseco said.
Vital Farms hiked its 2024 revenue forecast based on expectations for a more favorable commodity outlook and benefits from its marketing reinvestment strategy.
Vital Farms now sees net revenue increasing at least 22% to $575 million, compared to its previous guidance of 17% growth. The company hiked its adjusted EBITDA outlook to at least 45% growth to $70 million or more. Vital Farms previously expected 18% EBITDA growth.
FactSet analysts estimate net revenue of $560.5 million and $59.9 million in EBITDA.
VITL stock soared nearly 27% Thursday.
Vital Farms stock rallied 90.6% this year through Wednesday and is trading at its highest level since November 2020.
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