Beyond Meat beats revenue estimates on gains from price hikes

By Anuja Bharat Mistry

(Reuters) -Beyond Meat beat estimates for second-quarter revenue on Wednesday and raised the lower end of its sales forecast for the year, as it benefited from a string of price increases on its plant-based faux meat burger patties and sausages.

The company's move to raise prices and cut costs last year also helped boost quarterly margins, which surged to 14.7% from 2.2% a year earlier.

"We expect U.S. pricing actions to provide a tailwind toward net revenues per pound in both channels through the balance of the year," CEO Ethan Brown said on a post-earnings call.

Easing expenses related to manufacturing and logistics helped the company offset the impact of higher raw material costs.

Beyond Meat saw a moderate drop in its domestic retail and food-service businesses as a sequential rise in marketing and promotional activities helped attract customers who had switched to lower-priced animal proteins.

The company saw a 6.1% increase in quarterly net revenue per pound helped by lower trade discounts as well as prices of some products in U.S. retail and food-service channels.

In its domestic retail channel, the company reported an increase of 20.5% in net revenue per pound, compared with a 6.3% decline a year earlier.

"Its Q2 earnings show a glimpse of what is likely to be Beyond Meat's near to medium future: a gradual decline in sales losses with a path towards profitability," eMarketer analyst Blake Droesch said.

The company's quarterly volumes were down 14% after falling 23.9% a year earlier.

Net revenue declined 8.8% to $93.2 million from a year earlier. Analysts had expected revenue of $87.8 million, according to LSEG data.

For fiscal 2024, it expects net revenue in the range of $320 million to $340 million, compared with its prior forecast of $315 million to $345 million.

Shares of the company were up about 2% in trading after the bell.

(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)