Why Oatly Stock Is Plummeting Today

Oatly (NASDAQ: OTLY) stock is sinking Wednesday following the release of its fourth-quarter results. The beverage specialist's share price was down 14.3% as of 12:30 p.m. ET and had been off by as much as 15.5% earlier in the session.

Oatly published its Q4 results before the market opened, posting a loss of $0.15 per share on revenue of $214.3 million in the quarter. Those figures came up short of Wall Street analysts' consensus estimates for a loss of $0.06 per share on revenue of $218.1 million.

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Oatly's top line did increase 5% year over year in the fourth quarter, and its gross margin of 28.8% was an improvement from 23.4% in the prior-year period. In further positive news, its net loss of $91.2 million was narrower than its net loss of $298.7 million a year earlier. However, while the company continued to make improvements, investors were expecting more progress -- and its weaker-than-anticipated sales growth is raising concerns about the competitive strength of its beverage lines.

What's next for Oatly?

Oatly expects that it will continue to expand its revenues and shift into profitability this year. Management anticipates that sales will increase by between 2% and 4% in 2025. The company is also guiding for non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $5 million to $15 million for the year. It is projecting capital expenditures of $30 million to $35 million.

With Wednesday's pullback, Oatly stock is now down by roughly 56% over the last year. Shares are also down by 97.5% from their price at the close of trading on the day of the beverage specialist's initial public offering in May 2021. The company now has a market capitalization of roughly $299 million and is valued at just 34% of this year's expected sales. While that beaten-down share price could position the stock for a significant rebound, the company's relatively weak sales growth and margins could hinder a sustained recovery.

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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.