Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) reported fourth-quarter 2025 results that reflected continued weakness in the plant-based meat category alongside a series of non-routine charges tied to the company’s transformation initiatives and recent balance sheet actions.
Founder, President and CEO Ethan Brown said the company faced “a challenging year for our brand with an equally challenging quarter,” but used the period to make what he described as “foundational building blocks,” including retiring most of its 2027 convertible notes, raising capital, and advancing an enterprise-wide transformation effort focused on right-sizing operations and expanding margins.
Quarterly results pressured by category softness and non-routine items
By channel, Beyond Meat posted declines across the board:
- U.S. retail: Net revenues decreased 6.5% to $31.7 million, driven by lower volume. Kutua said the company is “beginning to see some benefit” from recent distribution gains in the mass channel.
- U.S. food service: Net revenues fell 23.7% to $8.0 million, primarily due to lower volumes and the lapping of chicken product sales to a U.S. QSR customer in the year-ago period.
- International retail: Net revenues declined 32.5% to $8.8 million, largely due to reduced burger sales in the EU and certain retail channels in Canada. Kutua noted year-over-year comparisons in Canada were affected by stocking activity in the prior-year period tied to potential tariffs.
- International food service: Net revenues decreased 31.8% to $13.1 million, reflecting reduced sales of chicken and burger products to certain QSR customers.
Gross profit was $1.4 million, and gross margin fell to 2.3% from 13.1% a year earlier. Kutua said fourth-quarter gross results included $2.4 million in non-cash charges related to SKU rationalization and $1.5 million of expenses related to the shutdown of the company’s China business. Brown also pointed to increased inventory obsolescence provisions and accelerated depreciation tied to the cessation of operations in China, along with the margin impact of lower overhead absorption and higher trade.
Operating expenses rose to $134.2 million from $47.8 million, driven by what management described as large non-routine, largely non-cash items. Kutua cited $48.1 million in non-cash charges tied to the write-down of certain long-lived assets, a $38.9 million litigation-related accrual, and $13.3 million in incremental share-based compensation related to the convertible debt exchange. Excluding those and other items, Kutua said the year-over-year decrease in operating expenses was primarily driven by lower marketing spend.
Despite operating losses, Beyond Meat reported net income of $409.9 million, or $0.84 per share, compared with a net loss of $44.9 million, or a loss of $0.65 per share, a year earlier. The swing was driven by other income, including a gain on debt restructuring. Brown cited a $548.7 million gain on debt restructuring, while Kutua reported total other income, net of $542.6 million for the quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $69.0 million, compared with a loss of $26.0 million in the year-ago quarter. Kutua noted adjusted EBITDA for the quarter included the asset write-down loss.
Transformation efforts target costs, margins, and cash use
Brown said the company is focused on “reducing baseline operating expense and cash use” and “increasing conversion efficiency” across production facilities. He said Beyond Meat has largely completed the consolidation of its production network and is optimizing a continuous production line at its Columbia, Missouri facility while investing in automation.
Management also described efforts to reduce material costs through RFP actions, secondary sourcing, and formulation improvements, while consolidating warehousing and reducing logistics expense. Brown said the company is exiting less profitable product lines, driving down inventory, and prioritizing cash management, with “significantly reduced” baseline cash use in the fourth quarter compared to prior periods when excluding extraordinary items.
In response to questions about ongoing operating cash burn, Kutua emphasized working-capital management—particularly lowering inventory levels—and said certain large, non-ordinary expenses seen in recent quarters “should not recur” in 2026, including items tied to the debt exchange and previous reductions in force. He also pointed to margin initiatives, including internalizing more volume through the continuous line and improving asset utilization.
Balance sheet actions and near-term guidance
Kutua said cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash, were $217.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2025. Total outstanding carrying value of debt was $415.7 million, which he said includes “the total undiscounted future cash flows of the new 2030 notes in accordance with TDR accounting guidelines.”
For full-year 2025, net cash used in operating activities was $144.9 million, compared with $98.8 million in the prior year. Capital expenditures were $12.3 million. Net cash provided by financing activities was $223.4 million, including $100 million in delayed draw term loan borrowings and approximately $148.7 million in net proceeds from sales of common stock under the company’s at-the-market program.
As part of the fourth-quarter debt exchange, Kutua said the company exchanged over 97% of the $1.15 billion principal amount of 2027 convertible notes for approximately $209.7 million principal amount of new second-lien 2030 convertible notes and about 318 million new common shares, leaving approximately $29.5 million of the 2027 notes outstanding.
Given what Kutua called “elevated levels of uncertainty” and “low visibility” in the plant-based meat category, the company provided limited near-term guidance, forecasting first-quarter 2026 net revenues of approximately $57 million to $59 million.
New “Beyond” positioning and a push into beverages
Brown said the company is laying the groundwork to reposition from “Beyond Meat” to “Beyond, the plant protein company,” describing the strategy as broadening beyond the plant-based meat category rather than abandoning the company’s original mission. He said Beyond Meat plans to use its brand and product-development capabilities to enter adjacent categories.
The first such move is “Beyond Immerse,” a clear, slightly carbonated beverage platform launched initially through the company’s Beyond Test Kitchen direct-to-consumer channel. Brown said the initial limited run sold out quickly and generated “over 3 billion media impressions.” He described the product as designed to deliver protein, fiber, antioxidants, and electrolytes, with 10 or 20 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber, and 60 or 100 calories depending on protein level. Brown also said the beverage is made without added sugar alcohols, artificial sweeteners or flavors, stabilizers, carrageenan, and other ingredients common in some protein drinks, and he suggested it may be “particularly well-suited for GLP-1 users.”
On scaling the beverage platform, Brown told analysts the company plans a measured rollout: starting with D2C, gathering consumer feedback, then moving into regional distribution with an emphasis on natural, followed by mass. He said Beyond will rely on co-packers, calling beverage production “much easier” than scaling plant-based meat, and said co-packing is “readily available” in the U.S.
Brown also discussed early feedback on Beyond Immerse, saying the 10-gram version performed strongly, while the 20-gram version was more polarizing. He said the company adjusted the 20-gram version by dialing back flavor intensity and sweetness and has iterated multiple times since launch.
Internal control issues and delayed 10-K filing
Kutua said the company identified an additional material weakness in internal controls over financial reporting related to inventory provisions, in addition to a previously identified material weakness tied to accounting for non-routine and complex transactions. He said the company identified certain errors in previously issued interim 2025 financial statements but determined they were immaterial, and plans to correct them prospectively in 2026 filings while providing corrected amounts for certain measures in the earnings release.
Kutua also said Beyond Meat will not file its annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2025 by the deadline and cannot estimate when it will be filed. He noted the company will be considered an untimely filer and will not be eligible to use Form S-3 registration statements until it regains timely filer status.
About Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND)
Beyond Meat, Inc (NASDAQ: BYND) develops, manufactures and sells plant-based meat substitutes designed to replicate the taste, texture and appearance of animal-based proteins. Since its founding in 2009 by Ethan Brown and initial public offering in 2019, the company has focused on leveraging proprietary technology and ingredient blends to produce a suite of products that cater to both retail and foodservice channels. Beyond Meat’s mission centers on offering more sustainable protein options by reducing reliance on livestock farming and its associated environmental footprint.
The company’s product portfolio includes Beyond Burger, Beyond Sausage, Beyond Beef and Beyond Chicken, each formulated to appeal to a broad range of consumers seeking meat alternatives without compromising on flavor or cooking versatility.
