Shares of Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ: BYND) were up 9% on Friday, a day after the company delivered fourth quarter 2022 earnings results that surpassed projections. The stock has gained 65% year-to-date. Here are a few noteworthy points from the earnings report:
Better-than-expected results
Beyond Meat reported revenue of $79.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, which was down nearly 21% from the year-ago quarter but exceeded estimates of $75.8 million. Adjusted loss per share was $1.05, narrower than the loss of $1.27 per share reported last year as well as the consensus estimate of a loss of $1.18 per share.
Narrower losses
The company’s loss from operations in Q4 was $65.7 million compared to $77.7 million in the year-ago period. The reduction was mainly driven by lower general and administrative expenses, reduced expenses related to production trial activities, lower marketing expenses, and reduced non-production headcount expenses.
Lower expenses
Beyond Meat’s operating expenses of $62.8 million were down around 32% year-over-year and 16% sequentially as the company continues its efforts to right-size its expense base. The decrease was driven by lower G&A and marketing expenses, reduced production trial activities and people expenses, as well as lower restructuring costs.
Outlook
Beyond Meat expects revenue for the full year of 2023 to range between $375-415 million, which represents a decrease of approx. 1-10% from 2022. In the first half of the year, the company anticipates a net sales decline in the mid-teens range on a percentage basis compared to the respective year-ago period.
However, during the second half of 2023, net sales are expected to grow in the double-digit range. This growth is likely to be driven by pricing changes that the company has been trying out on a limited basis. Gross margin for the year is expected to be in the low double-digit range. It is expected to start out slightly positive at the beginning of the year and then increase sequentially through the period.
Click here to read the full transcript of Beyond Meat’s Q4 2022 earnings conference call