Shares of Beyond Meat (BYND 3.75%) have tumbled 77% in 2025. However, a meme stock-fueled rally in October has put the company back on some investors' radars.
Is the embattled plant-based meat maker on the cusp of an epic comeback that will silence all the haters? Or was this simply a dead-cat bounce for a company that's hurtling toward bankruptcy?
Image source: Getty Images.
The fundamentals aren't healthy
Since Beyond Meat stock hit a 52-week high of $7.69 on Oct. 22, the shares have cratered 89%, as of this writing. A likely reason is the sobering reality of Beyond Meat's third-quarter results.
Net revenue dipped 13% to $70.2 million, mainly due to lower sales volume. Revenue from U.S. retailers dropped 18%, compared to the year-ago period, while revenue from the U.S. food service channel (restaurants, cafeterias, etc.) fell 27%. The revenue drop is the latest data point in a troubling top-line trajectory for Beyond Meat.
BYND Revenue (trailing-12-months) data by YCharts.
On a more positive note, the company refinanced around $900 million in convertible bonds that had been weighing on the balance sheet. As part of a debt-exchange offer, Beyond Meat issued 318 million shares of common stock to bondholders who chose to convert their bonds to shares. Another $209 million in debt was converted from 0% interest bonds due in 2027 to 7% interest bonds due in 2030.
While the debt exchange will result in massive share dilution, Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown called it "an important resetting of our balance sheet" that supports "a reset of our business." But that doesn't address the larger problem, which is the declining sales volumes and weak demand for plant-based meat. On top of that, Brown admitted that the business was built to achieve healthy margins at much higher revenue levels.
NASDAQ: BYND
Key Data Points
Beyond Meat's turnaround plan focuses on improving product availability, countering the "misinformation" surrounding the health benefits of its products, and reducing operating costs. Until we see more demand for plant-based meat, in general, I wouldn't count on an epic comeback anytime soon.
