Did anyone invest in Beyond Meat (BYND)?

[QuarterMillionMan]

From $200 a share just a few years ago to $7 today. When it was $100 I was considering some but glad I didn’t. People I know who tried eating said it tasted weird but I’ve never tried it.. Anyone here ever tried it?

[disneysteve]

No, I don't own the stock (unless it's held in one of our funds).

Yes, I've eaten their products many times. We always have Beyond burgers in the house. Our daughter is vegetarian and likes them and when we do family burger night that's what we all eat.

[kork13]

My wife is (tragically) allergic to beef, so she generally does one of the beyond meat burgers anytime the rest of us do normal beef burgers. I've tried a couple before ... They're not bad, but I'm not a fan of the texture, nor how oily they make it (80/20 burgers are less "greasy"/oily!).

It's a mission-based company & product, I definitely don't directly own any of the stock, though it probably exists within one of my index funds. FWIW, I've generally seen that mission companies care more about the cause than profitability, so I generally avoid them as an investment (though I may well be a customer).

[LivingAlmostLarge]

i tried it and it's okay. It's not terrible to be honest

[james.hendrickson]

I love it, Beyond Meat is totally a penny stock now. Its been trading at around $1.75 for year.

Who knew...people would rather have real meat.

[ua_guy]

LOL.

I tried it when it came out, just to try it. Wasn't impressed, and have no need for it (I prefer real meat..).

I also don't hold individual stocks, if I have it, it's part of a larger fund.

[disneysteve]

I love it, Beyond Meat is totally a penny stock now. Its been trading at around $1.75 for year.

Who knew...people would rather have real meat.

Just because a company has done poorly doesn't mean the product is a failure. Vegetarian meat substitutes are a huge business. Many independent and chain restaurants have added them to their menus and they sell well enough. I haven't followed Beyond but I suspect it might be more of a management issue. Because of the popularity of the product line, there are also a lot more competitors now. Our supermarket freezer section is filled with a variety of vegetarian options including store brand products. Personally, we buy Beyond Burgers, but we also buy Gardein and Morningstar Farms products. Occasionally Quorn also.

[james.hendrickson]

Just because a company has done poorly doesn't mean the product is a failure.

DisneySteve - I would submit to you that a major cause, if not THE major cause of sustained share price declines is failure of a company to sell that companies goods and services.

Beyond Meat has been trading at under $5 for the last three years. If the reason for the decline were a one time event, like a large tax bill, then the share price would have recovered.

[disneysteve]

DisneySteve - I would submit to you that a major cause, if not THE major cause of sustained share price declines is failure of a company to sell that companies goods and services.

Beyond Meat has been trading at under $5 for the last three years. If the reason for the decline were a one time event, like a large tax bill, then the share price would have recovered.

A quick Google search returned a litany of reason why the stock price is low.

" Key reasons for the low stock price

• Declining sales and demand:
  Beyond Meat has experienced a significant drop in sales, with revenue decreasing in recent quarters as overall demand for plant-based meat has weakened.

• Intense competition:
  The plant-based meat market has become crowded with competitors, eroding Beyond Meat's market share and brand advantage.

• High debt and financing issues:
  The company's heavy debt load has led to a recent debt exchange offer that resulted in a massive issuance of new shares. This significantly diluted the value for existing shareholders.

• Profitability challenges:
  Beyond Meat has failed to achieve profitability, and its gross margins have declined significantly, partly due to the costs associated with exiting operations in China.

• Operational struggles:
  The company has faced operational difficulties, including laying off employees and recording significant non-cash impairment charges on assets.

• Weak consumer sentiment:
  Some consumers view Beyond Meat products as highly processed, and there are reports of negative consumer experiences and a broader trend toward less processed foods."

[james.hendrickson]

A quick Google search returned a litany of reason why the stock price is low.

" Key reasons for the low stock price

• Declining sales and demand:
  Beyond Meat has experienced a significant drop in sales, with revenue decreasing in recent quarters as overall demand for plant-based meat has weakened.

• Intense competition:
  The plant-based meat market has become crowded with competitors, eroding Beyond Meat's market share and brand advantage.

• High debt and financing issues:
  The company's heavy debt load has led to a recent debt exchange offer that resulted in a massive issuance of new shares. This significantly diluted the value for existing shareholders.

• Profitability challenges:
  Beyond Meat has failed to achieve profitability, and its gross margins have declined significantly, partly due to the costs associated with exiting operations in China.

• Operational struggles:
  The company has faced operational difficulties, including laying off employees and recording significant non-cash impairment charges on assets.

• Weak consumer sentiment:
  Some consumers view Beyond Meat products as highly processed, and there are reports of negative consumer experiences and a broader trend toward less processed foods."

Disney Steve - a fair point. I would point out that none of these would be an issue if they made a product that people want and love. Compare Beyond Meat to Apple. People like and want to buy iPhones. They don't like Beyond Meat's products, and as a result Beyond Meat isn't selling.

[disneysteve]

LOL.

I tried it when it came out, just to try it. Wasn't impressed, and have no need for it (I prefer real meat..).

Generally speaking, people who buy vegetarian/vegan proteins do so because they either can't or choose not to eat the real thing for either health or personal reason or both. Our daughter is vegetarian. My wife and I both have high cholesterol. We do a lot of vegetarian cooking. We've tried a number of veggie burgers and Beyond burgers are the ones we have all liked the best.

[ua_guy]

Generally speaking, people who buy vegetarian/vegan proteins do so because they either can't or choose not to eat the real thing for either health or personal reason or both. Our daughter is vegetarian. My wife and I both have high cholesterol. We do a lot of vegetarian cooking. We've tried a number of veggie burgers and Beyond burgers are the ones we have all liked the best.

I acknowledge there's a place for vegan protein products and people who don't eat meat for a variety of reasons, just that I am not part of that subset. Beyond Meat was valued like it was going to replace a lot of meat and IMO that was beyond hopeful. And now the stock price is what it is. Veganism may be growing, but not at the rate and fervor which that IPO suggested.

Vegan protein can be good, but I have not found anything I like in a "burger replacement". The hamburger was designed around a beef patty, and that is a very specific taste, texture, and experience. I'm always skeptical of things which attempt to replace burgers with non-meat product. The Impossible Whopper didn't knock my socks off... If I decided to to vegan, I would need to give up hamburgers.

[disneysteve]

I acknowledge there's a place for vegan protein products and people who don't eat meat for a variety of reasons, just that I am not part of that subset. Beyond Meat was valued like it was going to replace a lot of meat and IMO that was beyond hopeful. And now the stock price is what it is. Veganism may be growing, but not at the rate and fervor which that IPO suggested.

Vegan protein can be good, but I have not found anything I like in a "burger replacement". The hamburger was designed around a beef patty, and that is a very specific taste, texture, and experience. I'm always skeptical of things which attempt to replace burgers with non-meat product. The Impossible Whopper didn't knock my socks off... If I decided to to vegan, I would need to give up hamburgers.

I actually dislike the trend toward trying to replicate meat. I've eaten veggie burgers for years. They were typically made in-house with some blend of ground vegetables and something to bind them into a patty (egg if vegetarian, something else if vegan). They were often mushroom or bean based. Most of them tasted good and were good for you. The problem was as you went from one restaurant to another, there was no consistency so you never knew what you were going to be served when you ordered one. Some were great, some were passable, some were lousy, some were bland, some were super spicy. Beyond and Impossible fixed that issue. Now, we can go to many different restaurants, big and small, and know what is coming when we order a burger. But I do still miss the more natural ones.

[srblanco7]

My wife is (tragically) allergic to beef, so she generally does one of the beyond meat burgers anytime the rest of us do normal beef burgers. I've tried a couple before ...

"Tragically". Made me LOL.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Today Beyond Meat is .72 cents a share. In 2020, it was almost $200 a share. Who eats this junk. I've never tried it.