Oatly Group, a leading brand of plant-based dairy alternatives, has seen its losses widen and stock price drop since its much-ballyhooed initial public offering in May.
The stock price for the Sweden-based company stood at $9.32 on Nov. 15, down from a peak of more than $28 in June. Sales for the quarter ending Sept. 30 reached $171 million, a 50% raise over the same quarter last year, but Oatly incurred a loss for the quarter of $40.6 million, up from $9.9 million the previous year.
Oatly’s problems include increased competition and various production constraints that are keeping it from completely fulfilling demand in some areas. The production issues include problems with a new manufacturing plant in Ogden, Utah; depressed demand from foodservice customers, and transportation logjams, especially in Europe.
“Production capacity has been a major constraint on our growth,” CEO Peter Bergh said Nov. 15 in an analyst meeting.