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BYND, Beyond Meat Inc.
Beyond Meat is a leading plant-based meat company offering a portfolio of revolutionary plant-based meats and other innovative plant-based food and beverage products.
Our brand promise, "Eat What You Love," represents a strong belief that there is a better way to feed our future and that the positive choices we all make, no matter how small, can have a great impact on our personal health and the health of our planet.
To capture this market opportunity, we have developed three core plant-based product platforms that align with the largest meat categories globally: beef, pork and poultry.
The business
What it sells, where the money comes from, the kind of company it is.
The business in brief
read the 10-K →What this business is and what moves its needle, from its own SEC filings.
- Situation
- Distress / turnaround. Thin interest coverage, or operating cash burned against real debt, across the record. The balance sheet carries this situation; the debt schedule sets the clock.
- What moves the needle
- Operating margin has run around −48% through the cycle on a 13% gross margin, the operating line deeply negative — so the lever is the path to a margin at all: revenue growth against the cost curve and the cash runway, not the level of a margin that isn't there yet. Inventory runs near 34% of sales, so how fast it turns back into cash — and the risk of writing it down when demand softens — sits alongside the margin. On its own account, the filing leans hardest on pricing power & competition, set against the numbers in what the filing emphasizes, below.
- Is it a good business?
- Return on capital has rarely cleared the cost of capital (median −30%, above 15% in 0 of 7 years). Owner earnings, the cash-based check, have been thin too. This is price-taker territory, where the balance sheet and the cycle matter more than any multiple; the rest is in the 10-K.
Every line is arithmetic on the company's filings, shown in full in the sections below.
Where the money comes from
read the 10-K →41% of revenue comes from outside the United States.
- United States59%$163M
- International41%$112M
From the segment footnote of the company's own 10-K. Shares are of total revenue; the profit bar shows each segment's share of segment operating profit, before unallocated corporate costs.
The record
Ten years of arithmetic, read across the cycle.
The record, 2017–2025
realized figures from each filing · older years to the left| 2017’17 | 2018’18 | 2019’19 | 2020’20 | 2021’21 | 2022’22 | 2023’23 | 2024’24 | 2025’25 | TTMTTMMar 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| $33M | $88M | $298M | $407M | $465M | $419M | $343M | $326M | $275M | $265M | RevenueRevenue |
| −7% | 20% | 33% | 30% | 25% | −6% | −24% | 13% | 3% | 6% | Gross marginGross mgn |
| 53% | 39% | 25% | 33% | 45% | 57% | 59% | 52% | 79% | 78% | SG&A / revenueSG&A/rev |
| 18% | 11% | 7% | 8% | 14% | 15% | 12% | 9% | 8% | 8% | R&D / revenueR&D/rev |
| ($29M) | ($28M) | ($489K) | ($49M) | ($175M) | ($343M) | ($342M) | ($156M) | ($334M) | ($310M) | Operating incomeOp. inc. |
| −87.7% | −31.8% | −0.2% | −12.1% | −37.6% | −81.8% | −99.6% | −47.8% | −121.1% | −117.1% | Operating marginOp. mgn |
| ($30M) | ($30M) | ($12M) | ($53M) | ($182M) | ($366M) | ($338M) | ($160M) | $219M | $252M | Net incomeNet inc. |
| Cash flow & returns | ||||||||||
| ($25M) | ($38M) | ($47M) | ($40M) | ($301M) | ($320M) | ($108M) | ($99M) | ($145M) | ($124M) | Operating cash flowOp. cash |
| $3M | $5M | $8M | $13M | $22M | $33M | $48M | $23M | $33M | $32M | DepreciationDeprec. |
| $1M | ($15M) | ($55M) | ($28M) | ($169M) | ($21M) | $153M | $14M | ($428M) | ($439M) | Working capital & otherWC & other |
| $8M | $22M | $24M | $58M | $136M | $70M | $11M | $11M | $12M | $10M | CapexCapex |
| 24.3% | 25.3% | 8.0% | 14.2% | 29.3% | 16.8% | 3.1% | 3.4% | 4.5% | 3.9% | Capex / revenueCapex/rev |
| ($28M) | ($43M) | ($55M) | ($53M) | ($323M) | ($353M) | ($118M) | ($110M) | ($157M) | ($134M) | Owner earningsOwner earn. |
| −87.3% | −48.5% | −18.5% | −13.1% | −69.5% | −84.2% | −34.5% | −33.6% | −57.1% | −50.6% | Owner earnings marginOE mgn |
| ($33M) | ($60M) | ($71M) | ($98M) | ($437M) | ($391M) | ($118M) | ($110M) | ($157M) | ($134M) | Free cash flowFCF |
| −101.8% | −68.2% | −23.8% | −24.0% | −94.1% | −93.3% | −34.5% | −33.6% | −57.1% | −50.6% | Free cash flow marginFCF mgn |
| $0 | $514K | $0 | $0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | BuybacksBuybacks |
| — | — | -0% | -17% | -26% | -44% | -62% | -30% | -158% | -33% | ROICROIC |
| — | — | -3% | -14% | -137% | — | — | — | — | — | Return on equityROE |
| — | — | −3% | −14% | −137% | — | — | — | — | — | Retained to equityRetained/eq |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| $39M | $54M | $276M | $159M | $733M | $310M | $191M | $132M | $204M | $191M | Cash & investmentsCash+inv |
| — | $13M | $40M | $36M | $44M | $34M | $32M | $27M | $26M | $26M | ReceivablesReceiv. |
| — | $30M | $82M | $122M | $242M | $236M | $130M | $113M | $84M | $69M | InventoryInvent. |
| — | $17M | $27M | $53M | $69M | $55M | $56M | $38M | $21M | $23M | Accounts payablePayables |
| — | $26M | $95M | $105M | $217M | $215M | $106M | $103M | $90M | $72M | Operating working capitalOper. WC |
| — | $103M | $404M | $332M | $1.1B | $606M | $373M | $286M | $341M | $311M | Current assetsCur. assets |
| — | $25M | $48M | $89M | $94M | $76M | $74M | $61M | $75M | $109M | Current liabilitiesCur. liab. |
| — | 4.1× | 8.5× | 3.7× | 11.2× | 8.0× | 5.0× | 4.7× | 4.6× | 2.9× | Current ratioCurr. ratio |
| — | $134M | $452M | $468M | $1.4B | $1.1B | $774M | $678M | $615M | $579M | Total assetsAssets |
| — | $30M | $31M | $25M | $1.1B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $416M | $1.1B | Total debtDebt |
| — | ($24M) | ($245M) | ($134M) | $396M | $824M | $947M | $1.0B | $212M | $953M | Net debt / (cash)Net debt |
| -28.5× | -24.8× | -0.2× | -19.2× | -48.0× | -86.4× | -86.4× | -38.1× | -23.8× | -15.7× | Interest coverageInt. cov. |
| ($96M) | ($122M) | $384M | $367M | $132M | ($204M) | ($513M) | ($601M) | ($997K) | ($21M) | Shareholders’ equityEquity |
| 2.0% | 2.5% | 4.3% | 6.7% | 6.0% | 8.1% | 8.5% | 7.3% | 11.2% | 11.9% | Stock comp / revenueSBC/rev |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| 16.4M | 18.9M | 127M | 187M | 190M | 191M | 193M | 198M | 181M | 455M | Shares out (diluted)Shares |
| $1.99 | $4.66 | $2.35 | $2.18 | $2.45 | $2.19 | $1.78 | $1.65 | $1.52 | $0.58 | Revenue / shareRev/sh |
| $-1.86 | $-1.58 | $-0.10 | $-0.28 | $-0.96 | $-1.92 | $-1.75 | $-0.81 | $1.21 | $0.55 | EPS (diluted)EPS |
| $-1.74 | $-2.26 | $-0.43 | $-0.29 | $-1.70 | $-1.85 | $-0.61 | $-0.55 | $-0.87 | $-0.29 | Owner earnings / shareOE/sh |
| $-2.03 | $-3.18 | $-0.56 | $-0.52 | $-2.31 | $-2.05 | $-0.61 | $-0.55 | $-0.87 | $-0.29 | Free cash flow / shareFCF/sh |
| $0.48 | $1.18 | $0.19 | $0.31 | $0.72 | $0.37 | $0.05 | $0.06 | $0.07 | $0.02 | Cap. spending / shareCapex/sh |
| $-5.86 | $-6.45 | $3.03 | $1.96 | $0.70 | $-1.07 | $-2.66 | $-3.04 | $-0.01 | $-0.05 | Book value / shareBVPS |
The diluted share count moved ×6.72 into 2019 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
The diluted share count moved ×1.47 into 2020 — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
Share counts before 2025 are restated ×3 for a stock split, so per-share figures sit on one basis.
The diluted share count moved ×2.52 into TTM — shares issued, not a split the totals corroborate — and the per-share figures carry the counts as filed.
| 8-yr | 5-yr | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue / share | −3.3%/yr | −6.9%/yr |
| Capital spending / share | −21.7%/yr | −26.1%/yr |
The year, in the company's words
the filing →Verbatim from the 10-K's management discussion. Each sentence is shown only because its subject, direction, and stated figures check out against the filed numbers on this page. The words are the company's; the arithmetic is the record's.
- Revenue-15.6%
“Net revenues from international retail channel sales in 2025 decreased $6.6 million, or 11.1%, compared to the prior year, primarily driven by a 16.2% decrease in volume of products sold, partially offset by a 6.2% increase in net revenue per pound.”
✓ figure matches the filed record
The record, charted
FY2017–2025Each measure over its full record; the current point and the worst year marked. Share counts on the current split basis.
Owner earnings vs. net income
Owner earningsNet incomeThe accountant's number, and the cash an owner can take; the gap is the tell.
Net income is the accountant's number; owner earnings is the cash an owner could take out. The walk between them, off the cash-flow statement, and whether the gap is widening or holding.
In fiscal 2025 the business reported $219M of profit but ($157M) of owner earnings: $376M less than the profit line, taken out by capital spending and the timing of cash.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported net income | $219M | ($160M) | ($338M) | ($366M) | ($182M) |
| Depreciation & amortizationnon-cash charge added back | +$33M | +$23M | +$48M | +$33M | +$22M |
| Stock-based compensationreal costnon-cash, but a real cost | +$31M | +$24M | +$29M | +$34M | +$28M |
| Working capital & othertiming of cash in and out, other non-cash items | −$428M | +$14M | +$153M | −$21M | −$169M |
| Cash from operations | ($145M) | ($99M) | ($108M) | ($320M) | ($301M) |
| Maintenance capital expenditurethe spending needed just to hold position and volume | −$12M | −$11M | −$11M | −$33M | −$22M |
| Owner earnings | ($157M) | ($110M) | ($118M) | ($353M) | ($323M) |
| Growth capital expenditurediscretionary; spent to get bigger, not to stand still | — | — | — | −$38M | −$114M |
| Free cash flow | ($157M) | ($110M) | ($118M) | ($391M) | ($437M) |
| Owner-earnings marginowner earnings ÷ revenue | -57% | -34% | -34% | -84% | -70% |
Owner earnings is the cash an owner could pull out without starving the business: operating cash less the capital it must spend to hold its position . The cash-flow statement also adds stock comp back as non-cash, but it is a real cost paid in shares; counted as the expense it is (less $31M), owner earnings is nearer ($188M).
Much of fiscal 2025's profit didn't arrive as operating cash; it sits in “working capital & other” above. That can be a real inventory or timing swing, or profit that doesn't run through operating cash at all: a heavy tax year, equity-method earnings, or investment income booked through investing. For a year like this, owner earnings understates the cash earned; the full cash-flow statement carries the rest.
Maintenance capex is estimated as depreciation where a growing business invests above it; free cash flow is the figure the scorecard's free-cash margin reads.
Quality & stewardship
Returns, the balance sheet, capital allocation, and pay.
Owner’s Scorecard
“Risks Related to Being a Public Company We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.”
The figures below are only as sound as the controls that produced them. read the note →
Will it survive?
- Can it pay its interest? -23.8×Does not cover its interestOperating income ($334M) ÷ interest expense $14M
What this means
A full year of operating profit didn't cover the interest bill. This is the zombie zone: the business depends on refinancing, asset sales, or forbearance to service its debt.
- Net debt against an operating lossCash $204M − debt $1.1B
What this means
Netting $204M of cash and short-term investments against $1.1B of debt leaves $938M owed, with no operating profit this year to measure it against — understand that combination before anything else about the company. Net debt is the leverage figure that matters: the cash is already set against the debt. Strategic or illiquid investments aren't counted here.
- Long (60+ days)DSO 35 + DIO 115 − DPO 28 days
What this means
Days cash is tied up between paying suppliers and collecting from customers. Lower is better; a long cycle means growth itself eats cash.
Is it a good business?
- Below average through the cycle7-yr median, range -158%–-0%; -36% latest = NOPAT ($334M) ÷ invested capital $937MIndustry peers: median 8%
What this means
The rate the business earns on the money tied up in it, Buffett's north star, because over time a stock tracks the ROIC beneath it. Above ~15% sustained hints at a moat; a return below the cost of capital (~8%) erodes value as a business grows rather than building it — the test Buffett weighs most. The headline is the median of the last 7 years (it ran -36% most recently), so one peak or trough year doesn't set the verdict. Asset-light businesses (R&D expensed, little capital) read artificially high, pair this with Owner Earnings.
- Consumes cash through the cycle9-yr median margin, range -87%–-13%; latest ($157M) = operating cash ($145M) − maintenance capex $12MIndustry peers: median 5%
What this means
What an owner could take out without starving the business: operating cash less the maintenance capital it must spend to hold its position — Buffett's owner earnings. That's -57% of revenue this year, a -48% median across 9 years. Treating stock comp as the real expense it is (less $31M of SBC) leaves ($188M).
- Are earnings backed by cash? -0.66×Thinly cash-backedCash from ops ($145M) ÷ net income $219M
In the filing’s words The filing discloses a material weakness in its financial controls — the reported numbers here, and the record built on them, are only as reliable as the controls that produced them.
What this means
How much of reported profit showed up as operating cash. Above 1× is reassuring; well below suggests earnings lean on accruals. One year is noisy, growth and working-capital swings distort it, and this is operating cash, not free cash. Watch the multi-year trend.
How is the cash used?
- No surplus to allocate
What this means
The business didn't generate positive Owner Earnings this year, so any distributions came from the balance sheet or borrowing, not from operations.
- Investing or harvesting? 0.38×HarvestingCapex $12M ÷ depreciation $33M
What this means
Descriptive, not a grade. Above ~1× means investing faster than assets wear out (growth, or, sustained for years, today's earnings carrying less depreciation than tomorrow's will). Below means spending less than it's wearing out (efficiency, or a melting asset base). The ratio won't tell you which; the filings will.
Graham’s defensive tests · 1 of 5 met
Graham’s numerical criteria for the defensive investor (The Intelligent Investor, ch. 14), run on the filings. A floor of safety, not a buy signal; many fine modern businesses fail his strictest liquidity rules by design.
- Adequate size MissRevenue ≥ $2B · $275M
What this means
Big enough to weather a storm. Graham's 1972 floor was ~$100M of sales (≈ $700M today); we use a $2B revenue line as a conservative modern stand-in.
- Strong liquidity PassCurrent ratio ≥ 2× · 4.56×
What this means
Current assets at least twice current liabilities, near-term bills covered without touching the business. Strict by design: many cash-rich modern firms run leaner and miss it, holding their cushion in longer-dated securities.
- Conservative debt MissDebt ≤ working capital · $1.1B vs $267M WC
What this means
Graham's rule that borrowings not exceed net current assets. Capital-heavy and buyback-heavy firms routinely fail it, read it next to interest coverage, not alone.
- Earnings stability MissA profit every year (9-yr record) · 8 loss years
What this means
Graham wanted earnings in each of the past ten years, the stability a defensive owner leans on.
- Dividend record MissUninterrupted dividends · none paid
What this means
An unbroken dividend was Graham's mark of durability. He wanted twenty years; the filings show about ten, and a single suspension breaks the streak. Non-payers, many fine modern compounders, fall outside his defensive net by design.
- Earnings growth —Earnings +33% over the record · —
What this means
Earnings were negative early in the record, a growth rate isn't meaningful.
- Moderate price —P/E ≤ 15 and P/E × P/B ≤ 22.5 · decided by the price
What this means
Graham's valuation gate, the wall he kept between a sound business and a sound investment. Three-year average earnings are $-0.18/share (latest year $0.43), the averaged base the calculator's gate runs on, and book value is $-0.00/share. Enter a price in “What the price implies” just below for the P/E, P/B, and whether it clears. But this is the rule Buffett outgrew: there's no hard P/E law, and a wonderful business can deserve a far richer multiple if the thesis holds, treat it as the bargain-hunter's floor, not a verdict on the price.
Durability & moat, 2017–2025
Whether the record’s returns held, and what the capital reinvested earned.
- Profitable years 1 of 9
What this means
Lost money in 8 year(s), look at what happened there before trusting the average.
- Return on capital ≥ 15% 0 of 7 yrs
What this means
A moat shows up as a high return on invested capital that holds year after year, not one good vintage.
- Operating margin −40% → −89% (3-yr avg ends)
In the filing’s words The filing attributes gains to higher prices but names price competition too — and the margin slipped, so the pressure is winning here.
What this means
Through the cycle the operating margin slipped — about −40% early to −89% lately, median −48% — competition or costs are biting in.
- Reinvestment, incremental ROIC returns capital
What this means
The capital base barely grew: this business returns cash through dividends and buybacks rather than reinvesting. Judge it on the cash returned, not on compounding.
- Worst year 2025 · −121.1% op. margin
What this means
Operations went underwater in 2025, understand why before trusting the good years.
Does AI threaten the moat?
Low contestabilityThe moat is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded, the kind AI cuts costs within but does not contest.
Its FY2025 10-K names artificial intelligence as a competitive threat, in language that was not in the prior year's filing.
“The implementation of artificial intelligence technologies by us or our suppliers or other service providers could cause disruption in our business.”
AI is unlikely to contest a moat that is physical, regulated or balance-sheet-funded; here it reads more as a cost tool than a threat.
Read from the filing's own risk factors, paired with the industry's structure under its SIC code; the durability is read above, the price below.
All figures as filed; the source filing is linked above.
Current Position
as of the latest quarter, Mar 28, 2026Can the business pay what it owes this year, off the freshest balance sheet: the quality of the assets, the debt actually coming due, and what a low ratio means here.
- Cash & short-term investments$191M
- Receivables$26M
- Inventory$69M
- Other current assets$25M
- Debt due within a year$29M
- Accounts payable$23M
- Other current liabilities$57M
From the company's latest filing.
Management, ownership & pay
read the proxy →From the proxy: how much of the business the people running it own, and how they are paid, beside what the business earned for its owners in the same years.
| Fiscal year | Chief executive | Pay, as filed | “Actually paid” | Owner earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Ethan Brown | $6.6M | −$8.8M | ($323M) |
| 2022 | Ethan Brown | $6.8M | −$6.5M | ($353M) |
| 2023 | Ethan Brown | $6.7M | $3.2M | ($118M) |
| 2024 | Ethan Brown | $5.0M | $301k | ($110M) |
| 2025 | Ethan Brown | $29.8M | $22.0M | ($157M) |
Both pay figures are the company’s own, from the pay-versus-performance table its proxy statement files. “As filed” is the Summary Compensation Table total: salary, bonus, and equity awards at their value on the day of grant. “Actually paid” is the SEC’s prescribed recalculation, which re-marks those equity awards to what they became as they vested; it can swing far above or below the filed figure in either direction, and negative years occur. Owner earnings are the whole business's, from the record above, for the same fiscal years.
- Insider ownership1.9%
The stake all directors and executive officers hold together, per the 2026 proxy: skin in the game, the first thing Munger reads.
- CEO pay ratio454:1
What the chief earns for every dollar the median employee makes, per the 2026 proxy. A high ratio alone settles nothing; some businesses are genuinely top-heavy in scarce skill. A runaway figure is where Buffett starts asking whether the board is doing its job.
- Stock-based compensation$31M
The slice of the business handed to employees in shares this year, 11% of revenue. Buffett's oldest accounting fight: this is compensation, compensation is an expense, real whether or not the headline earnings admit it. One trap: the cash-flow statement adds SBC back, so the operating cash, and the owner earnings drawn from it, are flattered by exactly this amount; counted as the cost it is, what an owner keeps is lower.
What an owner would ask, FY2025
read the 10-K →- Which reported numbers are a judgment call?Management names Revenue recognition, Inventory as critical estimates
each rests partly on management's judgment; the filing's note sets out the assumptionsverify →
The questions the record and the charts do not answer on their own; each carries the figure and the place to look.
Peers, Food Products
The same industry, side by side on owner economics. Each figure is a through-cycle median, so a peak or trough year can’t distort it; the group median at the foot is the line to read each against.
| Company | Revenue | Gross margin | Op. margin | ROIC | Owner earn. margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGSB&G Foods | $1.8B | 22% | 12.3% | 5% | 5% |
| SMPLThe Simply Good Foods Company | $1.5B | 39% | 15.4% | 8% | 13% |
| VITLVital Farms | $759M | 34% | 6.0% | 19% | 5% |
| COCOThe Vita Coco Company Inc. | $610M | 34% | 11.4% | 47% | 8% |
| BRCCBRC Inc. | $398M | 38% | -5.0% | -40% | -3% |
| BYNDBeyond Meat Inc. | $275M | 13% | -47.8% | -30% | -48% |
| LWAYLifeway Foods Inc. | $212M | 27% | 4.0% | 6% | 3% |
| MAMAMama's Creations Inc. | $172M | 29% | 4.1% | 27% | 5% |
| Group median | — | 31% | 5.1% | 7% | 5% |
The price
What a price has to assume.
What the price implies
reverse-DCFBeyond Meat Inc. is profitable, but owner earnings are negative this year because capital spending currently outruns operating cash, a build-out, so the owner-earnings reverse-DCF has no positive base to grow. We read the price from both ends instead: type a price to see the steady-state profitability it demands, then set the mature margin you would believe and weigh the two against each other. Nothing leaves your browser unless you enter it in your notebook.
Revenue, delivered−9%/yr’20→’25
Enter a price to run it.
A dated snapshot of the price you typed, the assumptions you set, and what the page showed for them. A snapshot is never edited after it is saved. Your notebook is yours alone — the commitment states what is stored and what we will never do.
Two reads of one future. From your price: the owner earnings the company must reach, valued at a mature multiple and discounted back at your rate, expressed as the margin it implies on revenue grown at your rate. From your belief: the mature margin you would credit, set on the dial above. When the margin the price demands runs above the one you would believe, you are paying for a future taken on faith. For a deep cyclical at a trough, normalized through-cycle earnings are the better lens; this mode is for the genuinely unprofitable, and for the profitable business whose capital spending currently outruns its cash.
Manual order: ← BYD its page in the Manual BZH →
Industry order: ← BRLS the Food Products chapter CAG →