Animal rights activists around the world are jumping with joy thanks to recent reports that Beyond Meat, an aspiring vegan company aiming to make traditional meat and beef products obsolete, is revving up for a blockbuster IPO that could be one of the most interesting forays into the market in recent years. Plenty of companies making their market debut bring something interesting to the table, but Beyond Meat’s innovative business model and boundless ambitions to replace meat with healthier, more humane options is garnering plenty of buzz for the company.
Here’s everything you need to know about Beyond Meat and its quest to change the food on our plates as it prepares to make its market debut.
Imagining a world without meat
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) has quite a lofty dream – the company aims to pioneer a plant-based meat revolution that it hopes will render traditional options like beef and pork obsolete. Some of the details behind the company’s forthcoming market debut are hazy, but recent reports indicate that Beyond Meat is looking to garner some $100 million in its IPO, though that number could very well be a placeholder figure while executives determine their debut strategy. Producing plant-based hamburgers, sausages, and chicken, the company is hoping to ignite a green revolution that will upend how modern consumers enjoy their meals.
While bacon-lovers around the globe may find themselves in despair, Beyond Meat’s focus on the sustainable production of plant-based alternatives to such things as beef has garnered it an impressive reputation amongst health gurus. Beyond Meat has already garnered an impressive financial backing for itself, too, with Bill Gates and Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) being amongst those backing the ambitious company ahead of its market debut.
Many investors see Tyson Foods’ obsession with plant-based meat as a strong indicator of how there will be a large market for such products in the near-future. With consumers around the globe finding themselves hooked up health food diets, too, and with a rapidly changing climate forcing industries to consider more sustainable production methods, many consider Beyond Meat to be laying the groundwork for what could become a new global industry.
Beyond Meat may have to convince investors to hop onboard before it can truly takeoff, however, and for that it may need to pay more attention to its finances.
Still posting net-losses
Despite the hype surrounding Beyond Meat, the company still isn’t profitable. According to S-1 filings made with the SEC ahead of its IPO, the company has been hemorrhaging money thus far; Beyond Meat posted net losses of more than $25 million in 2016, for instance. Furthermore, the company’s losses extended the next year, with Beyond Meat posting net losses of $30.4 million in 2017. The company’s revenue has been steadily inflating, however, and they brought home an admirable $32.6 million in net revenue in 2017 after their transition to a digital customer experience, nearly double their 2016 figures.
Despite the fact that Beyond Meat is weathering some losses right now, however, the company still has plenty of potential; agricultural and animal husbandry experts around the world are increasingly warning that the largely unsustainable methods of meat production relied upon by contemporary society isn’t only harmful to the environment, but will grow more expensive in the future, too. Lab grown meat and the plant-based meat alternatives that companies like Beyond Meat are offering could thus be incredibly lucrative products in the near-future. With lab-grown meat now being cheap enough for literally anyone to buy when it was ludicrously expensive just a few years ago, there’s clearly plenty of potential in this industry. As Beyond Meat prepares to make its market debut, it will doubtlessly be garnering plenty of investor interest.