In a sign of its continuing troubles, Beyond Meat has announced plans to lay off almost 20% of its workforce and has drastically reduced its earnings predictions.
In a regulatory filing, Beyond declared that it will lay off 200 employees by the end of this year, incurring a $4 million charge to do so. It also adjusted its expected earnings for the third quarter down to $82 million, which would be about 23% less than earnings for the same quarter last year. Full-year earnings were adjusted to $400 million to $425 million, down from its previous prediction of $470 million to $520 million.
The changes are coming because Beyond “has been negatively impacted by ongoing softness in the plant-based meat category overall, especially in the refrigerated subsegment, and by the impact of increased competition,” according to a company statement.
Beyond, the largest publicly traded pure-play alt-meat company, has had ongoing problems, with two key executives leaving and the company consistently losing money.
“While we believe the current headwinds facing our business and category—including record inflation—are transient, our mission, brand, and long-term opportunity endure,” CEO Ethan Brown said in the statement. “To manage through the current environment and realize the opportunity ahead, we are significantly reducing expenses and sharpening our focus on a set of key growth priorities.”
