Why Beyond Meat Stock Got Hammered Today

What happened

Shares of plant-based meat company Beyond Meat (BYND -0.17%) got hammered on Thursday after the company reported financial results and announced a stock offering. As of 2:45 p.m. ET, Beyond Meat stock was down about 18%.

So what

Beyond Meat has been facing challenged revenue and considerable cash burn for about two years now. In the first quarter of 2023, the company's revenue remained challenged. Q1 net revenue of $92 million was down almost 16% year over year.

However, Beyond Meat made some bottom-line improvements. The company had a negative gross profit margin in 2022 but its gross margin jumped to 6.7% in Q1. And by increasing its gross profit and reducing its operating expenses year over year, the company cut its loss from operations to $57.7 million compared to a loss from operations of $97.6 million in the prior-year period.

Beyond Meat stock was up big following the release of financial results. And perhaps these headline numbers were initially enough to excite investors. But the details going forward seem to have the market on edge today, leading to the big drop.

Now what

Beyond Meat's management maintained its full-year revenue guidance of $375 million to $415 million, implying a 1% to 10% year-over-year drop. Management also expects its gross margin to surpass 10% before the end of the year. And it expects to be cash-flow positive in the second half of 2023 as well.

Positive cash flow would seem to imply Beyond Meat will be able to self-fund the business. However, the company also filed an at-the-market equity offering program yesterday afternoon for $200 million. Founder and CEO Ethan Brown said the company doesn't need cash "immediately" but said it would use the program "opportunistically."

With a current market capitalization of $657 million, a $200 million offering is massive for Beyond Meat and it's understandably troublesome to some investors. If there were positives in Q1, it unfortunately appears they're overshadowed by the uncertainty of how many shares the company might sell and when.