By Ananya Mariam Rajesh
(Reuters) -Beyond Meat said on Wednesday it expects sharper revenue growth in the second half of 2023 after reporting a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss on easing supply chain pressures and cost controls.
Shares in the plant-based meat company rose as much as 11% in extended trading before paring gains, last up 4%, as it also beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue.
Sales in Beyond Meat's international foodservice segment nearly doubled in the quarter, helped by partnerships with quick-service restaurants including McDonalds Corp that recently introduced Beyond patties in its Double McPlant burger across restaurants in UK and Ireland.
Beyond Meat finance chief Lubi Kutua said on a post-earnings call that focus on expanding distribution of recently launched products in the U.S. and new items in international markets will help bolster revenue growth in the latter part of the year.
The company has cut jobs, ramped up automation in its manufacturing processes and strengthened its sourcing network in to keep a tight lid on costs and expand margins.
Beyond Meat, which is also restructuring certain contracts and operating activities related to Beyond Meat Jerky, said it intends to assume distribution responsibilities for the product from fourth quarter of 2023 and expects this to result in gross margin expansion.
"Achieving significant margin improvement will be challenging until sales trends reverse," said CFRA Research analyst Arun Sundaram.
The company reiterated its annual revenue forecast of $375 million to $415 million.
Total operating expenses in the first quarter fell to $63.9 million from $97.8 million a year earlier, also seeing a relief from easing freight and manufacturing costs from pandemic highs.
The company's net loss narrowed to $59 million, or 92 cents per share. Analysts on average expected the company to post a loss of $1.01 cents per share, as per Refinitiv IBES data.
Net revenue fell 15.7% to $92.2 million in the first quarter but beat expectations of $90.8 million.
(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in BengaluruEditing by Vinay Dwivedi)
