Pure protein... Beefless burger company Beyond Meat served its first earnings report to Wall Street since last month's IPO (one of the best in years — the stock rose 163% on day #1 of trading). On Thursday, Beyond shares surged another 18% after sales from January-March tripled to $40M from the same period last year.
Profits were as non-existent as cornish hen... Costs were $7M more than revenue, leading to a loss. But Beyond's splurging each buck it has on growth. The WSJ just reported there's a shortage of meat alternatives that juice just like a burger. So Beyond is spending the $253M it raised in May's IPO on new factories (next destination: Holland) to pump out pea-protein patties.
Beyond Meat has the 1st mover advantage... the challenge is keeping it. There's growing demand for a burger that doesn't make you guilty (for eating unhealthy, eating another mammal, and dropping a giant carbon footprint) — 15% of restaurants in the US have "fake meat" on the menu, up from 3% last year. That's attracted some serious competition:
- Nestlé just unveiled the awkwardly-named "Awesome Burger".
- Tyson Foods is developing its own meat alternative.
- Countless startups are trying to turn alt-protein, potatoes, beats, and other grown-from-earth foods into something juicy and tasty (looking at you, Impossible Burger).