Beyond Meat surges 23% after smashing sales forecasts and getting a slew of analyst upgrades
- Beyond Meat reported better-than-expected earnings Tuesday, leading to a slew of upgrades from Wall Street analysts.
- Shares surged 23% Wednesday.
- Analysts boosted their price targets after Beyond Meat retail sales jumped in the first quarter as the company focused on grocery stores when restaurants were shuttered due to coronavirus.
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Shares of Beyond Meat surged as much as 23% Wednesday after the company delivered better-than-expected earnings and got a round of upgrades from Wall Street analysts.
The buzzy plant-based meat company reported its first quarter earnings on Tuesday. The results showed that sales of the company's products weren't as bad as analysts feared they'd be amid sweeping restaurant lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Beyond Meat brought in $97 million in revenue, outpacing analyst estimates of $88.2 million in the quarter. Still, the 141% jump in sales from a year earlier is the slowest pace for the company in two years.
Analysts raced to upgrade Beyond Meat following its earnings report. Jefferies upgraded its price target to $95 from $83, Piper Sandler bumped its price to $95 from $72, and UBS also increased its target to $75 from $73.
A jump in retail sales as the company shifts focus away from shuttered restaurants drove the upgrades. Steven Strycula of UBS noted that US retail sales of its products jumped 157% in the quarter, as consumers shopped for products in grocery stores instead of going out to eat.
"With food service industry traffic down, BYND plans to lean-on its retail platform to drive growth and is repurposing production capacity to meet demand," Strycula wrote in a Wednesday note.
He continued: "BYND seeks to use value packs & increased trade to stimulate trial, particularly as beef prices spike."
Analysts have a consensus target of $82.17 on shares of Beyond Meat, and three "buy" ratings, nine "hold" ratings, and seven "sell" ratings, according to Bloomberg data.
Beyond Meat is up 32% year-to-date through Tuesday's close.
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