Beyond Meat burned by COVID-19 restaurant trends

Beyond Meat shares sank on Thursday as the company explained pandemic pressures caused it to fall short of earnings expectations.

The plant-based meat company reported a net loss of $27.3 million, which was attributed to a decline in its foodservice channel sales during the pandemic.

During the quarter, Beyond Meat said. decreased foot traffic at restaurants, streamlined menu offerings and restrictions on foodservice locations’ operating capacity "meaningfully curtailed operations" at restaurants that it typically sells to.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
BYND	BEYOND MEAT INC.	6.43	-0.13	-1.98%

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Beyond Meat President and CEO Ethan Brown said he was beginning to see a "slow thaw" of those patterns.

"As I look at the foundation we are putting in place, I have never been more optimistic about Beyond Meat's future as a significant and enduring global protein company," Brown said in a statement. "More near-term, we are cautiously returning to the practice of issuing guidance, starting with net revenues, as we have recently begun to see a slow thaw occurring within foodservice both domestically and in certain international markets."

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In addition to reduced demand in its food services channel, Beyond Meat said a surge in demand from retail customers experienced at the beginning of the pandemic had moderated.

Loss from operations for the quarter was $24.6 million, compared to income from operations of $1.8 million in the comparable period last year.

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The company also declined to provide full-year guidance because of the difficulty in forecasting customer demand.

Shares sank more than 6% in after-hours trading.