Piper Sandler recently downgraded Beyond Meat, Inc. (BYND) to neutral from underweight. Other analysts ranged in their estimates from hold to sell. The 12-month consensus target price for BYND is $48.13 with a May 2nd close at $38.33.
The YTD share price is 44 percent down from a high of $63.33 on January 12th. BYND peaked at $196.51 on July 1st, 2019, amid the unjustified exuberance over plant-based alternatives to meat.
Currently, BYND has a market capitalization of $2,436 million and has traded over the past 52 weeks from $160.28 down to $35.21. The forward P/E is an eye-watering 666. On a trailing 12-month basis, the company has an operating margin of -34.2 percent and a profit margin of -39.2 percent. The return on assets is -10.8 percent and on equity -72.9 percent. Of the equity, 8.7 percent is held by insiders and 63.7 percent by institutions. On April 14th, 41 percent of the float was short.
Much of the recent pessimism is associated with reports that test marketing of the McDonald’s McPlant™ has received minimal acceptance. In an inflationary environment, only a dedicated few consumers concerned over welfare and sustainability are willing to pay more for a product with lower nutritional value and with organoleptic qualities considered inferior to real beef.