What This Company's Latest Move Signals for Long-Term Investors
Key Points
Beyond Meat has been struggling with its meat alternative products.
The company has just launched Beyond Immerse, a protein drink.
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Beyond Meat's (NASDAQ: BYND) sales have been weak for years. The unprofitable consumer goods start-up is now trying to expand into new areas. What does this move signal for long-term investors?
What does Beyond Meat do?
Beyond Meat's core product is a plant-based meat alternative. It started out making "hamburgers," but has since branched out into other "meat" products, like nuggets and sausage. Despite the lineup expansion, the consumer staples maker's sales performance hasn't been very compelling.
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Through the first nine months of 2025, the company's revenue declined 14%. In 2024, the company's top line fell roughly 5%. Perhaps even more troubling, the company's volume declined across all its sales channels in both periods. Simply put, consumers don't seem to want to eat Beyond Meat's meat alternatives as much as they used to.
The company is looking to broaden its reach in an attempt to attract customers with the introduction of a protein drink called Beyond Immerse. That's not inherently a bad idea, but it may not be as positive as the company would like investors to believe.
A lot of competition
Beyond Meat competes with some of the world's largest consumer staples companies. These competitors have deeper pockets, larger research and development budgets, and better distribution. At this point, the new protein drink is really just a trial balloon, available only from the company's own site.
Companies like Coca-Cola or PepsiCo would likely conduct most of their testing in-house and then roll out a limited in-store rollout. Beyond Meat clearly can't pull that off, or perhaps it is just trying to create some media interest in its brand and products again.
In other words, it appears Beyond Meat is operating from a position of weakness. That's not a good sign for long-term investors. It is especially troubling given the company's lack of earnings. In fact, Beyond Meat has yet to generate positive free cash flow, meaning it is still burning through cash as it attempts to build a sustainable business.
This new product probably isn't a signal that Beyond Meat's fortunes are turning for the better. If you are looking for a consumer staples investment, you would likely be better off focusing on larger and more established companies, like Coca-Cola or PepsiCo in beverages or General Mills in food products. Given the state of Beyond Meat's business, despite the move into the beverage space, the risks here outweigh the rewards.
Should you buy stock in Beyond Meat right now?
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Reuben Gregg Brewer has positions in General Mills and PepsiCo. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Beyond Meat. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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